HumRRO recently hosted several Congressional visits to raise awareness of the value and impact of psychological research through the American Psychological Association’s (APA) “Stand for Science” initiative. In June, the Louisville office hosted visits from staff working in the local offices of Kentucky’s two senators: Whitney Meadows (Louisville Field Representative for Senator Rand Paul) and Andrew Condia (Louisville Field Representative for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell). In late August, we hosted Congressman John Yarmuth (D-KY), the U.S. Representative for Kentucky’s 3rd congressional district.

During each visit, researchers Gavan O’Shea, Matt Trippe, Beth BynumLaura Ford, and Art Thacker highlighted some of HumRRO’s federally-funded work and its impressive impact. The discussions included a “hands on” demonstrations of our rich media simulations, our line of research focused on Army Officer selection (e.g., for Reserve Officer Training Corps and Officer Candidate School), our research and assessment development in the cyber arena and for the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery), and finally the wide-range of psychometric, quality assurance, and validity work we do in the educational domain.

Each of our Congressional visitors left HumRRO very impressed with the work that we do, and our staff enjoyed the opportunity to share the impact of our wide-ranging research with these Congressional leaders!