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Mattan S. Ben-Shachar, PhD
I am a freelance research analyst and statistical consultant in service of the social sciences. I recently completed my PhD in neurocognitive psychology at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, researching individual differences in processing speed using electroencephalography (EEG).
I am also an active R
developer and statistical educator, and have provided support and consultation in these areas to numerous researchers, across several institutions. I am very opinionated about data analysis, inferential statistics and reproducible research, and am always happy to discuss these and related topics and to share from my expertise.
Education
Ph.D. in Psychology
Ben-Gurion University
Be’er Sheva, Israel
2023
Thesis: The Electrophysiological Basis of Processing Speed
Supervisor: Prof. Andrea Berger
M.A. in Experimental Cognitive Psychology
Ben-Gurion University
Be’er Sheva, Israel
2017
Thesis: Electrophysiological Evidence for the Role of Processing Speed and Attentional Control in Visual Recognition Tasks.
Supervisor: Prof. Andrea Berger
B.A. in Behavioral Sciences
Ben-Gurion University
Be’er Sheva, Israel
2015
Graduated Magna Cum Laude
Professional Experience
Statistical Consultant & Research Analyst
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Since 2016
I provide freelance consultation and research analysis services for the social sciences. I am deeply rooted in theory and methodology as both a lecturer and an R
developer, while also mindful of the practical needs of researchers and academics. I specialize in the following methods:
- Generalized linear models (regression, AN(C)OVA)
- Generalized mixed effects models (HLM, LMM)
- Missing data analysis and treatment
- Structural equation modeling (SEM)
- Factor analysis and clustering
- Bayesian modeling and inference
- Nonlinear models (NLM)
I provide guidance throughout all stages of the research process and decision-guided statistical analyses.
Statistics Lecturer
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Since 2015
My teaching and instructing are focused on undergraduate- and graduate-level statistics, research methods, and R programming. Over the last 8 years I have taught 920 undergraduate students and 570 graduate students across over a dozen courses. See Teaching Experience section.
R Developer
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Since 2016
Core developer of the easystats eco-system of packages – an award-winning collection of R packages, which aims to provide a unifying and consistent framework to tame, discipline and harness the scary R statistics and their pesky models (e.g., parameters, performance, and more).
- Developer and maintainer of effectsize for
estimating indices of effect size and standardized parameters.
- Developer of bayestestR, a package for describing and testing posterior distributions and Bayesian models.
Neurocognitive Psychology Researcher
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2015 - 2022
My research focused on differential cognitive psychology using behavioral and physiological methods, occasionally collaborating with international research groups. I have experience designing computerized tasks that evoke individual differences in an array of cognitive abilities. I have also led and managed research projects, including teams of graduate students and research assistants.
Neurophysiological Signal Processing: I have collected and analyzed multi-channel electroencephalography (EEG) data using eeglab
. My experience with signal pre-processing includes noise “cleaning” methods as well as dimension reduction tools (PCA, ICA); I specialize in latency measurement of event-related potentials (ERPs).
MITAM Exam Ddeveloper
National Institute for Testing and Evaluation
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Since 2020
I am a developer and reviewer of the MITAM exam (entrance test for advanced degrees in psychology - equivalent to the GRE).
Teaching Experience
Lecturer & Teaching Fellow
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Since 2018
* Denotes upcoming courses.
School of Psychological Sciences, Tel-Aviv University
Graduate level courses:
- Data Science Lab for Psychologists (Spring 2023)
- Hierarchical Models (Spring 2023)
Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University
Graduate level courses:
- Hierarchical Linear Models (Spring 2022; 2023; 2024*)
- Machine Learning for Psychologists (Spring 2022; 2023; 2024*)
- Essential Data Science Skills (Spring 2022; 2023; 2024*)
- Practical applications in R (Fall 2021; 2020; 2019)
- Structural equation modelling in R (Spring 2021; 2020)
- Analysis of factorial designs in R (Spring 2020; 2019)
Under-graduate level courses:
- Regression and Multi-Variables Analysis (Fall 2022; Fall 2023*)
- Experimental Psychology (Fall 2018)
Statistics and Data Program, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Under-graduate level courses:
- Introduction to Data Science (Spring 2023; 2024*)
- Bayesian Statistics and Modeling (Spring 2023; 2024*)
School of Cognitive Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Under-graduate level courses:
- Inferential Statistics (Fall 2022)
Workshops
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- Evaluating Evidence and Making Decisions using Bayesian Statistics. Workshop at the The 8th Conference on Cognitive Research of the Israeli Society for Cognitive Psychology, Israel.
Traveling workshops:
- Pre-Processing EEG Data (12h; Oct-Nov 2020, Jan-Feb 2020)
- Intro to the R Programming Language (7h; Jan 2021)
- Trends in Open Science (2h; Nov 2019, May 2019, Dec 2018)
- ANOVA and Contrasts in R (2h; May 2018)
Teaching Assistant & Instructor
Ben-Gurion University
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2015 - 2018
Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University
Under-graduate level courses:
- Experimental Psychology (Fall 2017; Summer 2017)
- Inferential Statistics (Spring 2018; Spring 2017)
- Introduction to Statistics (Fall 2015)
Department of Health Systems Management
Graduate level courses:
- Research Seminar (for Graduate Students) (Fall 2017; Fall 2016)
Awards and Scholarships
SIPS Mission Award
Society for Improving Psychological Science (SIPS)
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2023
Awarded to the easystats
project for improving the training and research practices of psychological scientists.
Full academic scholarship for graduate studies
Humanities and Social Sci Faculty, Ben-Gurion University
Be’er Sheva, Israel
2015 - 2022
Negev Mid-Way Scholarship
Kreitman School of Advanced Graduate Studies
Be’er Sheva, Israel
2020 - 2021
SIPS Commendation
Society for Improving Psychological Science (SIPS)
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2020
Awarded to the bayestestR
package for improving the training and research practices of psychological scientists.
M.H.R Publication Award
Humanities and Social Sci Faculty, Ben-Gurion University
Be’er Sheva, Israel
2020
For Ben-Shachar et al. (2020). DOI:10.1111/acer.14244
Erasmus+ EU Travel Grant
EU programme for education, training, youth and sport in Europe
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2018
Radboud Summer School Scholarship
Radboud University
Nijmegen, Netherlands
2018
Studied Linear Algebra for Neuroscience with Prof. Mike X. Cohen
Award for Academic Distinction
Dep. of Sociology and Anthropology, Ben-Gurion University
Be’er Sheva, Israel
2014
Scientific Publications and Presentations
In many of these works I was involved in the capacity of a statistical consultant or research analyst.
* Denotes equal contribution.
Peer Reviewed Publications
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- Nahum, M., Sinvani, R.T., Afek, A., Ben Avraham, R., Jordan, J.T., Ben Shachar, M.S., Ben Yehuda, A., Berezin Cohen, N., Davidov, A., & Gilboa, Y. (2023). Inhibitory control and mood in relation to psychological resilience: an ecological momentary assessment study. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 1-10.
- Einziger, T., Devor, T., Ben-Shachar, M.S., Arazi, A., Dinstein, I., Klein, C., Auerbach, J.G., & Berger, A. (accepted). Increased neural variability in adolescents with ADHD symptomatology: Evidence from a single-trial EEG study. Cortex, 167, 25-40. DOI:10.1016/j.cortex.2023.06.007
- Ben-Shachar, M.S., Patil, I., Thériault, R., Wiernik, B.M., Lüdecke, D. (2023). Phi, Fei, Fo, Fum: Effect Sizes for Categorical Data That Use the Chi‑Squared Statistic. Mathematics, 11, 1982. DOI:10.3390/math11091982
- Ben-Shachar, M.S., & Berger, A. (2023). Visual-Spatial Abilities Are NOT Related to the Speed of Mental Rotation. DOI:10.31234/osf.io/gkzxf
- Patil I., Makowski, D., Ben-Shachar, M.S., Wiernik, B.M., Bacher, E., Lüdecke, D. (2022). datawizard: An R Package for Easy Data Preparation and Statistical Transformations. Journal of Open Source Software, 7(78), 4684. DOI:10.21105/joss.04684
- Shmueli, M., Ben-Shachar, M.S., Jacobson, S.W., Meintjes, E.M., Molteno, C.D., Jacobson, J.L., Berger, A. (2022). Magnitude comparison and automaticity in number processing in adolescents with prenatal alcohol exposure: An event-related potentials study. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 46(6), 961-978. DOI:10.1111/acer.14823
- Lüdecke, D., Patil, I., Ben-Shachar, M.S., Wiernik, B.M., Waggoner, P., & Makowski, D. (2021). see: An R Package for Visualizing Statistical Models. Journal of Open Source Software, 6(64), 3393. DOI:10.21105/joss.03393
- Pereg, M., Harpaz, D., Sabah, K., Ben-Shachar, M.S., Amir, I., Dreisbach, G., & Meiran. N. (2021). Learning the Abstract General Task Structure in a Rapidly Changing Task Content. Journal of Cognition, 4(1), 31. DOI:10.5334/joc.176
- Lüdecke, D., Ben-Shachar, M.S., Patil, I., Waggoner, P., & Makowski, D. (2021) performance: An R Package for Assessment, Comparison and Testing of Statistical Models. Journal of Open Source Software, 6(60), 3139. DOI:10.21105/joss.03139
- Einziger, T., Ben-Shachar, M.S., Devor, T., Shmueli, M., Auerbach, J.G., & Berger, A. (2021). “My Brain Can Stop”: An ERP Study of Longitudinal Prediction of Inhibitory Control in Adolescence. Brain Sciences, 11(1), 100. DOI:10.3390/brainsci11010100
- Ben-Shachar, M.S., Lüdecke, D., & Makowski, D. (2020). effectsize: Estimation of Effect Size Indices and Standardized Parameters Aims of the Package. Journal of Open Source Software, 5(56), 2815. DOI:10.21105/joss.02815
- Lüdecke, D., Ben-Shachar, M.S., Patil, I., & Makowski, D. (2020). Extracting, Computing and Exploring the Parameters of Statistical Models using R. Journal of Open Source Software, 5(53), 2445. DOI:10.21105/joss.02445
- Hochman, S., Cohen, Z.Z., Ben-Shachar, M.S., & Henik, A. (2020). Tactile Enumeration and Embodied Numerosity among the Deaf. Cognitive Science, 44, e12880. DOI:10.1111/cogs.12880
- Makowski, D., Ben-Shachar, M.S., Patil, I., & Lüdecke, D. (2020). Methods and Algorithms for Correlation Analysis in R. Journal of Open Source Software, 5(51), 2306. DOI:10.21105/joss.02306
Peer Reviewed Publications (cont.)
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- Ben-Shachar, M.S., Shmueli M., Meintjes, E.M., Molteno, C.D., Jacobson, J.L., Jacobson, S.W., & Berger A. (2020). Prenatal alcohol exposure alters error detection during simple arithmetic processing: An Electroencephalography study. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 44(1), 114-124. DOI:10.1111/acer.14244
- Makowski, D., Ben-Shachar, M.S., Chen, S.A., & Lüdecke, D. (2019). Indices of Effect Existence and Significance in the Bayesian Framework. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2767. DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02767
- Berger, A., Shmueli, M., Lisson, S., Ben-Shachar, M.S., Lindinger, N.M., Lewis, C.E., Dodge, N. C., Molteno, C.D., Meintjes, E.M., Jacobson, J.L., & Jacobson, S.W. (2019). Deficits in arithmetic error detection in infants with prenatal alcohol exposure: an ERP study. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 40, 100722. DOI:10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100722
- Makowski, D., Ben-Shachar M.S., & Lüdecke, D. (2019). bayestestR: Describing Effects and their Uncertainty, Existence and Significance within the Bayesian Framework. Journal of Open Source Software, 4(40), 1537. DOI:10.21105/joss.01541
- Lavro, D., Ben-Shachar, M.S., Saville, C.W., Klein, C., & Berger, A. (2018). Testing the bottleneck account for post-error slowing beyond the post-error response. Biological psychology, 138, 81-90. DOI:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2018.08.010
Book Chapters
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- Ben-Shachar, M.S., & Berger, A. (2018). An Introduction to Attention and Its Implication for Numerical Cognition. In A. Henik & W. Fias (Eds.), Heterogeneity of Function in Numerical Cognition (pp. 93-110). Academic Press. DOI:10.1016/B978-0-12-811529-9.00005-4
Preprints and Submitted Manuscripts
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- Ben-Shachar, M.S.*, Lisson, S.*, Shotts-Peretz, D., Hannula-Sormunen, M., & Berger, A. (preprint). Spontaneous Focusing on Numerosity Linked to Quantity Discrimination in Children and Adults. DOI:10.31234/osf.io/mt3n9
Talks
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- Ben-Shachar, M. S. & Berger, A. (2022, December). A Bayesian Introduction to Probabilitese: The Language of Inference. Psychology graduate seminar, Bar-Ilan University, Israel.
- Ben-Shachar, M. S. & Berger, A. (2019, May). Impaired detection of erroneous arithmetic equations in adolescents with prenatal alcohol exposure: An EEG study In Child Development. Symposium conducted at the Israeli Human Neuroimaging Conference, Jerusalem, Israel.
Poster Presentations
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- Ben-Shachar, M. S. & Berger, A. (2023, February). Visual-Spatial Abilities Are NOT Related to the Speed of Mental Rotation. Poster presented at the The 5th Conference on Cognitive Research of the Israeli Society for Cognitive Psychology, Akko, Israel.
- Ben-Shachar, M. S. & Berger, A. (2022, February). Processing Speed: General Trait or Domain Specific? Mental Rotation as a case study. Poster presented at the The 9th Conference on Cognitive Research of the Israeli Society for Cognitive Psychology, Israel.
- Ben-Shachar, M. S. & Berger, A. (2021, February). Adaptation to Temporal Predictability Is Related to Intelligence. Poster presented at the The 8th Conference on Cognitive Research of the Israeli Society for Cognitive Psychology, Israel.
- Ben-Shachar, M. S., Shmueli, M., Jacobson, J. L., Jacobson, S. W., & Berger, A. (2019, February). Brain-level activity in response to perceived arithmetical errors reflects severity of Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Poster presented at the The 6th Conference on Cognitive Research of the Israeli Society for Cognitive Psychology, Akko, Israel.
- Ben-Shachar, M. S., Jacobson, J. L., Jacobson, S. W., & Berger, A. (2018, May). Neural Evidence for a Deficit in Numerosity Processing in Infants Prenatally Exposed to Alcohol. Poster presented at the the 16th WAIMH World Congress, Rome, Italy.
- Ben-Shachar, M. S., Shotts-Peretz, D., & Berger, A. (2018, February). Increased Acuity of the Analog Magnitude System is Related to Spontaneous Focusing on Numerosity in Children and Adults. Poster presented at the The 5th Conference on Cognitive Research of the Israeli Society for Cognitive Psychology, Akko, Israel.
- Ben-Shachar, M. S., Lisson, S., Shotts-Peretz, D., & Berger, A. (2018, January). Spontaneous Focusing on Numerosity is Related to Increased Acuity of the Analog Magnitude System. Poster presented at the The 7th International Meeting of the Integrated Brain and Behavior Research Center, Haifa, Israel.
- Ben-Shachar, M. S., Berger, A., Mesika, D., Lewis, C. E., Lindinger, N. M., Dodge, N. C., . Jacobson, S. W. (2017, February). Electrophysiological Evidence for the Role of Processing Speed in Visual Recognition Tasks. Poster presented at the The 4th Conference on Cognitive Research of the Israeli Society for Cognitive Psychology, Akko, Israel.