By Bob Uttl (February 28, 2025) charlatan, n. a person who pretends or claims to have more knowledge or skill than they possess; fraud; quack dictionary.com On March 12, 2024, the College of Alberta Psychologists” Complaint Review Committee (CRC) — Dr. Lorraine Breault, Dr. Ali Al-Asadi, and two community members, Mr. DD and Ms. BR …
By Dr. Bob Uttl (February 17, 2025) It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt. Mark Twain In elementary statistical textbooks, high school pupils are often asked to solve questions such as: What is the probability of rolling at least one 1 on a …
Multivariate Base Rates of Low Scores Are Percentile Ranks: True or False? Read More »
By Dr. Bob Uttl (February 14, 2025) apophenia : the tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern between unrelated or random things https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apophenia Dr. Mary Westcott, supervised by Dr. Allan Mandel, President and owner of Mandel & Associates Ltd., had her technicians administer Ms. T fifteen test/test batteries that yielded over 1/2 thousand scores. Among …
Dr. Mary Westcott’s Apophenia: Seeing Meaning In Randomness Read More »
By Dr. Bob Uttl (December 20, 2024) incompetent, adj.lacking the qualities for effective action, unable to function properly, inadequate to or unsuitable for a particular purpose Merriam-Webster Dictionary (merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incompetent) Dr. Troy Janzen, Deputy Registrar and Complaints Director, assigned Dr. Bob Acton and his colleagues in Falcongate Ltd. to investigate Ms. T’s complaints against Dr. Mary …
By Bob Uttl (November 29, 2024) Psychologists are required to obtain informed consent prior to providing any professional services to any clients. For example, the College of Alberta Psychologists (CAP) Standards of Practice (2005) make it clear that psychologists must obtain “informed consent”, must provide all information that “a reasonable person would want to know …
By Dr. Bob Uttl (May 10, 2024) However, what happened in this case went well beyond collaboration, consultation, wordsmithing or editing. It was word-for-word copying of a technical expert’s opinions and conclusions on key issues before this Court, all done without any attribution. It is plagiarism pure and simple. Plagiarism is wrong whether it is intentional or not Justice Lafreniere, …
By Dr. Bob Uttl (April 26, 2024) Numerous ethics codes require that psychologists first meet a person about whom they intend to pronounce their professional opinion. For example, Canadian Psychological Association‘s Code of Ethics for Psychologists (2017) makes it clear that psychologists are required to seek “as full and active participation as possible from individuals …
By Dr. Bob Uttl (March 26, 2024) On October 13, 2021, two “independent experts”, Dr. Mary Westcott, R. Psych. (Mandel & Associates Ltd) and Dr. J. Braxton Suffield, R. Psych. (J. B. Suffield and Associates) swore nearly verbatim identical affidavits (Dr. Mary Westcott’s Affidavit, Dr. John Braxton Suffield’s Affidavit) in support of the School District …
A picture is worth a thousand words. A fabricated graph is worth a thousand lies. Adapted from “A picture is worth a thousand words” In his December 30, 2011 report, Dr. John Braxton Suffield presented the figure below — a graph of Ms. T’s GATB CDN Aptitude profile relative to a profile of some unspecified …
There are lies, damned lies, statistics, and graphs Read More »
By Dr. Bob Uttl (October 5, 2023) There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. Attributed to Benjamin Disraeli by Mark Twain In her response to Ms. T’s complaint against Dr. Mary Westcott to the College of Alberta Psychologists, on March 29, 2021, Dr. Westcott (from Mandel & Associates Ltd.) created a …