Nilam Ram, Ph.D.
119-A Henderson
(814) 865-7038
2006, University of Virginia
Assistant Professor
Current Research Interests
My current research interests have grown out of a history of studying change. After my undergraduate study of economics I was lucky enough to land a job as a currency trader. There I studied the movement of world markets as they jerked up, down and sideways. Later I moved on to the study of human movement, kinesiology, and eventually psychological processes - with a specialization in longitudinal research methodology. Generally I study how short-term changes (e.g., processes such as learning, information processing, etc.) develop over the course of the lifespan and how intraindividual change and variability study designs (e.g., measurement bursts) might contribute to our knowledge base. Current projects include examinations of: age differences in short-term dynamics at the cognitive/affective/temperament interface; cyclic patterns in the day-to-day progression of emotions; and change in cognition and well-being over the lifespan, particularly in the oldest old. Methodologically, I am also working to develop a variety of multi-person extensions of intraindividual analytic methods and investigating how we can maintain a focus on the individual while still tackling issues of aggregation and generalizability.
Education
- 2006, Ph.D. Psychology, University of Virginia
- 2000, M.S. Kinesiology, University of Colorado
- 1992, B. A. Economics, Columbia University
Research and Professional Experience
- 2006-Present, Assistant Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University.
- 2007, Visiting Scientist, Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
- 2002-2006, Research and Teaching Assistant, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.
Publications
- Clotfelter, E. D., Pedersen, A. B., Cranford, J. A., Ram, N., Snajdr, E. A., Nolan, V., & Ketterson, E. D. (in press). Acorn mast drives long-term dynamics of rodent and songbird populations. Oecologica.
- Gerstorf, D., & Ram, N. (in press). Limitations on the importance of self-regulation in old age. Human Development.
- Hunter, J., Ram, N., & Ryback, R. (in press). Use of satiation therapy in the treatment of adolescent-manifest sexual interest in male children: A single-case repeated measures design. Journal of Clinical Case Studies.
- Nesselroade, J. R., Gerstorf, D., Hardy, S. A., & Ram, N. (in press). A model of idiographic filters for psychological constructs. Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives.
- Ram, N., Morelli, S., Lindberg, C., & Carstensen, L. L. (in press). From static to dynamic. The ongoing dialectic about human development. Invited chapter for K. W. Schaie & R. P. Abeles (Eds.), Social structures and aging individuals: Continuing challenges. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
- Ram, N., & Pedersen, A. B. (in press). Dyadic models emerging from the longitudinal structural equation modeling tradition: Parallels with ecological models of interspecifc interactions. In N. Card, T. Little, & J. Selig (Eds.), Modeling interdependent data in developmental psychology. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
- Ram, N., & Gerstorf, D. (in press). Methods for the study of development-- developing methods: Introduction to a Special Issue of Research in Human Development. Research in Human Development.
- Gerstorf, D., Ram, N., Estabrook, R., Schupp, J. Wagner, G.G., & Lindenberger, U. (2008). Life satisfaction shows terminal decline in old age: Longitudinal evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP). Developmental Psychology, 44, 1148-1159.
- Gerstorf, D., Ram, N., Röcke, C., Lindenberger, U., & Smith, J. (2008). Decline in well-being in old age: Longitudinal evidence for links to distance from death. Psychology and Aging, 23,154-168.
- Ram, N., & Grimm, K. (2007). Using simple and complex growth models to articulate developmental change: Matching theory to method. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31, 303-316.
- Chow, S. M., Grimm, K., Fujita, F., & Ram, N., (2007). Exploring cyclic change in emotion using item response models and frequency-domain analysis. In A. Ong & M. van Dulmen (Eds.), Handbook of Methods in Positive Psychology (pp. 362-379). Oxford University Press.
- Ram, N., & Nesselroade, J. R. (2007). Modeling intraindividual and intracontextual change: Operationalizing developmental contextualism. In T. D. Little, J. A. Bovaird, & N. A. Card (Eds.). Modeling ecological and contextual effects in longitudinal studies of human development (pp. 325-342). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
- Ram, N., Riggs, S., Skaling, S., Landers, D. M., & McCullagh, P. (2007). A comparison of modelling and imagery in the acquisition and retention of a motor skill. Journal of Sport Sciences, 25, 586-597.
- Bowles, R. P., & Ram, N. (2006). Using Rasch measurement to investigate volleyball skills and inform coaching. Journal of Applied Measurement, 7, 39-54.
- Ram N., Rabbitt, P., Stollery, B., & Nesselroade, J. R. (2005). Cognitive performance inconsistency: Intraindividual change and variability. Psychology & Aging, 20, 623-633.
- Ram, N., Chow, S. M., Bowles, R. P., Wang, L., Grimm, K., Fujita, F., & Nesselroade, J. R. (2005). Examining interindividual differences in cyclicity of pleasant and unpleasant affect using spectral analysis and item response modeling. Psychometrika, 70, 773-790.
- Chow, S. M., Ram, N., Boker, S. M., Fujita, F., & Clore, G. (2005). Capturing weekly fluctuation in emotion using a latent differential structural approach. Emotion, 5, 208-225.
- Nesselroade, J. R., & Ram, N. (2004). Studying intraindividual variability: What we have learned that will help us understand lives in context. Research in Human Development, 1, 9-29.
- Ram, N., Starek, J., & Johnson, J. (2004). Race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation: Still a void in sport and exercise psychology? Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 26, 250-268.
- Ram, N., & McCullagh, P. (2003). Self-modeling: Influence on psychological processes and physical performance. The Sport Psychologist, 17, 220-241.
- Ram, N., & Erickson, C. A. (1991). Gross national product: Actual and potential. In F.N. Magill (Ed.), Survey of social sciences: Economics (pp. 922-927). Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.