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Michael Hunter
Michael Hunter
Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Summary Statement

Michael Hunter's research interests lie at the intersection of human development, mathematical modeling, and statistical computing.

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
  • Graduate Program
  • Research
  • QuantDev Methodology
  • Methodology
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Education
  • Ph.D., Psychology, 2014, University of Oklahoma
  • M.A., Psychology, 2011, University of Virginia
  • B.S., Mathematics, 2008, Michigan State University
  • B.S., Psychology, 2008, Michigan State University
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Currently Accepting Graduate Students
Phone
Office Address
228 Health and Human Development Building
Interests
  • Dynamical systems
  • Structural equation modeling
  • Behavior genetics
  • Time Series
  • Methodology
Research Interests

Michael Hunter's research interests center on the intersection between human development, mathematical modeling, and statistical computing. His research activities can be summarized in three broad areas: modeling change and dynamical systems, software development, and behavioral applications. The core of his research emphasizes dynamical systems models of human behavior, largely the development of novel methods in this area. Part of this methods development includes implementing novel statistical techniques in the OpenMx and dynr software packages. While his primary focus has been on methodological advances, the bigger picture aim is always that these new methods will enable novel applications and the advancement of knowledge about human behavior.

Professional Experience
  • January 2022-present: Assistant professor, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University
  • August 2018-January 2022: Assistant professor, School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • March 2015-August 2018: Assistant professor of research, Section of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
  • July 2013-March 2015: Research biostatistician, Section of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Publications
  • Hunter, M.D., Fatimah, H, & Bornovalova, M.A. (in press). Two Filtering Methods of Forecasting Linear and Nonlinear Dynamics of Intensive Longitudinal Data. Psychometrika.  DOI: 10.1007/s11336-021-09827-5
  • Hunter, M.D., Garrison, S.M., Burt, S.A., & Rodgers, J.L. (2021). The Analytic Identification of Variance Component Models Common to Behavior Genetics. Behavior Genetics. 51, 425-437. DOI: 10.1007/s10519-021-10055-x
  • McKee, K.L., Hunter, M.D., Neale, M.C. (2020). A Method of Correcting Estimation Failure in Latent Differential Equations with Comparisons to Kalman Filtering. Multivariate Behavioral Research. 55, 405-424. DOI: 10.1080/00273171.2019.1642730
  • Ou, L.*, Hunter, M.D.*, & Chow, S. (2019). What's for dynr: A package for linear and nonlinear dynamic modeling in R. The R Journal. 11, 1-20. DOI: 10.32614/RJ-2019-012 *Co-first authors.
  • Hunter, M.D. (2018). State Space Modeling in an Open Source, Modular, Structural Equation Modeling Environment. Structural Equation Modeling. 25, 307-324.  DOI: 10.1080/10705511.2017.1369354