Prof. Dr. Moritz Heene

Short CV

Research Interests

• Methodology of latent variable models and psychological measurement Methodology of latent variable models and psychological measurement: development and evaluation of procedures for diagnostics, robustness, and model testing in structural equation and item response models, as well as investigation of the formal foundations of psychological trait measurement (including additive conjoint measurement).
• Simulation-based method evaluation Use of large-scale Monte Carlo simulations to analyze the properties of statistical methods and model testing in psychometrics, meta-analysis, and related fields.
• Meta-science and statistical modeling of complex data Statistical explanation of effect size heterogeneity in meta-analyses and replication studies, as well as investigation of methodological mechanisms leading to systematic effect size heterogeneity between studies.

Academic Profile

Enlarge

https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4956-2417

Open Science and My Commitment to Research Transparency

Enlarge

I am committed to the values of openness and transparency in science. I believe that such research practices enhance the informational value and impact of our research, as the data can be reanalyzed and synthesized in future studies. Furthermore, they increase the credibility of the results, as they allow for independent review and replication. That is why I signed the pledge for research transparency.

Publications

• Heene, M., Martin, S. R., & Knödler, E. (2026). Model-assisted inference for ordinal evaluation data: A Bayesian latent mixed effects location–scale model. Model Assisted Statistics and Applications, 21(1):73-85. https://doi.org/10.1177/15741699251415405
• Silva Díaz, J. A., Heene, M., & Ufer, S. (2025). A Practical Guide to Using SEM Forests for Specification Search in Structural Equation Modeling. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2025.2526028
• Uher, J., Arnulf, J. K., Barrett, P. T., Heene, M., Heine, J.-H., Martin, J., Mazur, L. B., McGann, M., Mislevy, R. J., Speelman, C., Toomela, A., & Weber, R. (2025). Psychology's questionable research fundamentals (QRFs): Key problems in quantitative psychology and psychological measurement beyond questionable research practices (QRPs). Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1553028. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1553028
• Horrer, A., Brandl, L., Reichow, I., M. Sailer, Sailer, M., Stadler, M., Heene, M., van Gog, T., Fischer, F., Fischer, M., & Zottmann, J. (2025). ASSESSRA – A case‑based approach for the assessment of students’ scientific reasoning and argumentation skills. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/07342829251364579
• Silva Díaz, J. A., Heene, M., & Brandmaier, A. M. (2024). Evaluation of Structural Equation Model Forests’ Performance to Identify Omitted Influential Covariates. Structural Equation Modeling 32(2), 319–331. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2024.2417866
• Heene, M., Maraun, M., Glushko, N. J., & Pornprasertmanit, S. (2024). The Devil is Mainly in the Nuisance Parameters: Performance of Structural Fit Indices Under Misspecified Structural Models in SEM. Meta-Psychology, 8. https://doi.org/10.15626/MP.2021.2757
• Maraun, M., Heene, M., & Sckopke, P. (2024). How Close to the Mark Might Published Heritability Estimates Be? Meta-Psychology, 8. https://doi.org/10.15626/MP.2018.1479
• Heine, J. H., & Heene, M. (2024). Measurement and Mind: Unveiling the Self-Delusion of Metrification in Psychology. Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives, 23(3), 213–241. https://doi.org/10.1080/15366367.2024.2329958
• Ferguson, C. J., & Heene, M. (2021). Providing a lower-bound estimate for psychology’s “crud factor”: The case of aggression. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 52, 620-626. https://doi.org/10.1037/pro0000386
• Opitz, A., Heene, M., & Fischer, F. (2021). Using differential item functioning to analyze the domain generality of a common scientific reasoning test. European Journal of Psychological Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000662
• Bond, T., Yan, Z., & Heene, M. (2020). Applying the Rasch Model: Fundamental Measurement in the Human Sciences (4th ed.). Routledge. https://doi-org/10.4324/9780429030499
• Renkewitz, F., & Heene, M. (2019). The Replication Crisis and Open Science in Psychology. Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 227(4), 233-236. https://doi.org/10.1027/2151-2604/a000389
• Landerl, K., Freudenthaler, H., Heene, M., de Jong, P. F., Desroches, A., Manolitsis, G., Parrila, R. (2019) Phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming as longitudinal predictors of reading in five alphabetic orthographies with varying degrees of consistency. Scientific Studies of Reading, 23, 220-234. https://doi:10.1080/10888438.2018.1510936
• Schwaighofer M., Heene M., Bühner M. (2019). Grundlagen und Kriterien der Diagnostik. In: Urhahne D., Dresel M., Fischer F. (Eds.). Psychologie für den Lehrberuf (pp. 471-491). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-..55754-9_24
• Beierl, E. T., Bühner, M., & Heene, M. (2018). Is that measure really one-dimensional?: Nuisance parameters can mask severe model misspecification when assessing factorial validity. Methodology, 14, 188–196. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-2241/a000158
• Maraun, M.D., Metta, A., Hart, S.D., Fraser-Maraun, J., & Heene, M. (2018). The dimensionality of the hare psychopathy checklist-revised, revisited: Its purported multidimensionality might well be artifactual. Personality and Individual Differences, 138, 24-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.09.004
• Silberzahn, R., Uhlmann, E. L., Martin, D. P., Anselmi, P., Aust, F., Awtrey, E. C., Bahník, Š., Bai, F., Bannard, C., Bonnier, E., Carlsson, R., Cheung, F., Christensen, G., Clay, R., Craig, M. A., Rosa, A. D., Dam, L., Evans, M. H., Cervantes, I. F., Fong, N., Gamez-Djokic, M., Glenz, A., Gordon-McKeon, S., Heaton, T., Eriksson, K. H., Heene, M., Mohr, A. H., Högden, F., Hui, K., Johannesson, M., Kalodimos, J., Kaszubowski, E., Kennedy, D., Lei, R., Lindsay, T. A., Liverani, S., Madan, C., Molden, D. C., Molleman, E., Morey, R. D., Mulder, L., Nijstad, B. A., Pope, B., Pope, N., Prenoveau, J. M., Rink, F., Robusto, E., Roderique, H., Sandberg, A., Schlueter, E., Schönbrodt, F. D., Sherman, M. F., Sommer, S. A., Sotak, K. L., Spain, S., Spörlein, C., Stafford, T., Stefanutti, L., Täuber, S., Ullrich, J., Vianello, M., Wagenmakers, E.-J., Witkowiak, M., Yoon, S., & Nosek, B. A. (2018). Many analysts, one dataset: Making transparent how variations in analytical choices affect results. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 1(3), 337-356. https://doi.org/10.1177/2515245917747646.
• Schönbrodt, F.D., Maier, M., Heene, M., & Bühner, M. (2018). Forschungstransparenz als hohes wissenschaftliches Gut stärken: Konkrete Ansatzmöglichkeiten für Psychologische Institute. Psychologische Rundschau, 69, 37–44. https://doi:10.1026/0033-3042/a000386
• Baghaei, P., Yanagida, T., & Heene, M. (2017). Development of a descriptive fit statistic for the Rasch model. North American Journal of Psychology.
• Eid, M., Geiser, C., Koch, T., & Heene, M. (2017). Anomalous results in G-factor models: Explanations and alternatives. Psychological Methods, 22(3), 541-562. https://doi.org/10.1037/met0000083
• Greiff, S., & Heene, M. (2017). Why Psychological Assessment Needs to Start Worrying About Model Fit. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 33(5), 313–317. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000450
• Opitz, A., Heene, M., & Fischer, F. (2017). Measuring scientific reasoning – a review of test instruments. Educational Research and Evaluation, 23(3), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803611.2017.1338586
• Heene, M., & Ferguson, C. J. (2017). Psychological Science’s Aversion to the Null, and Why Many of the Things You Think Are True, Aren’t. In S. O. Lilienfeld & I. D. Waldman (Eds.), Psychological Science Under Scrutiny (pp. 34–52). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119095910.ch3
• Maraun, M. & Heene, M. (2016). A note on the implications of factorial invariance for common factor variable equivalence. Communications in Statistics – Theory and Methods, 45(14), 4181–4193. https://doi: 10.1080/03610926.2014.917186.
• Heene, M., Kyngdon, A., & Sckopke, P. (2016). Detecting Violations of Unidimensionality by Order-Restricted Inference Methods. Frontiers - Quantitative Psychology and Measurement, 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/fams.2016.00003
• Aguilar-Raab, C., Heene, M., Grevenstein, D., & Weinhold, J. (2015a). Assessing drug-specific knowledge as a protective factor in illicit substance use: the Heidelberger Drogenbogen (Heidelberg drug scales – HDB). Journal of Substance Use, 20(6), 424-429. https://doi.org/10.3109/14659891.2014.942400
• Aguilar-Raab, C., Heene, M., Grevenstein, D., & Weinhold, J. (2015b). Assessing Drug Consumption Behavior With the Heidelberger Drogenbogen (Heidelberg Drug Scales): Reliabilities, Validities, and Cut-Off Criteria. Substance Use & Misuse, 50(13), 1638-1649. https://doi.org/10.3109/10826084.2015.1027926
• Bollmann, S., Böbel, E., Heene, M., Bühner, M. (2015). Which person variables predict how people benefit from True-False over Constructed Response items? Psychological Test and Assessment Modeling, 57(2), 147-161.
• Heene, M., Bollmann, S., & Bühner, M. (2014). Much ado about nothing, or much to do about something?: Effects of scale shortening on criterion validity and mean differences. Journal of Individual Differences, 35(4), 245–249. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000146
• Bluemke, M., Heene, M., Bipp, T., & Steinmayr, R. (2014). Das Führungskompetenzmodell des „Adaptive Leadership Competency Profile (ALCP)“: Eine Gültigkeitsprüfung mithilfe der Probabilistischen Testtheorie [The ‘Adaptive Leadership Competency Profile (ALCP)’: Validation on the basis of probabilistic test theory]. Wirtschaftspsychologie, 16(1), 81-94.
• Fischer, F., Kollar, I., Ufer, S., Sodian, B., Hussmann, H., Pekrun, R., Neuhaus, B., Dorner, B., Pankofer, S., Fischer, M., Strijbos, J.-W., Heene, M., & Eberle, J. (2014). Scientific Reasoning and Argumentation: Advancing an Interdisciplinary Research Agenda in Education. Frontline Learning Research 2(2), 28-45. https://doi.org/10.14786/flr.v2i2.96
• Rauh-Pfeiffer, A., Handel, U., Demmelmair, H., Peissner, W., Niesser, M., Moretti, D., Martens, V., Wiseman, S., Weichert, J., Heene, M., Bühner, M. & Koletzko, B. (2014). Three-month B vitamin supplementation in pre-school children affects folate status and homocysteine, but not cognitive performance. European Journal of Nutrition, 1-12. https://doi: 10.1007/s00394-013-0647-y
• Musekamp, F., Spöttl, G., Mehrafza, M., Heine, J.H., Heene, M. (2014). Modeling of Competences for Students of Engineering Mechanics. International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy, 4(1), 4-12.
• Heene, M. (2013). Additive conjoint measurement and the resistance toward falsifiability in psychology. Frontiers in Quantitative Psychology and Measurement, 246. https://doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00246.
• Musekamp, F., Mehrafza, M., Heine, J.-H., Schreiber, B., Saniter, A., Spöttl, G., Heene, M. et al. (2013). Formatives Assessment fachlicher Kompetenzen von angehenden Ingenieuren. Validierung eines Kompetenzmodells für die Technische Mechanik im Inhaltsbereich Statik. In O. Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, R. Nickolaus & K. Beck (Hrsg.). Kompetenzmodellierung und Kompetenzmessung bei Studierenden der Wirtschaftswissenschaften und der Ingenieurwissenschaften. Lehrerbildung auf dem Prüfstand, Sonderheft. 6, 177–193 [Themenheft]. Landau: VEP.
• Ferguson, C., & Heene, M. (2012). A Vast Graveyard of Undead Theories: Publication Bias and Psychological Science’s Aversion to the Null. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(6), 555–561. https://doi:10.1177/1745691612459059
• Draxler, C., Küchenhoff H., Heene, M., Bühner, M. & Mang, J. (2012). A comparison of parametric methods testing the Rasch Model. Advances and Applications in Statistical Science, 8, 1-27.
• Benedek, M., Franz, F., Heene, M., & Neubauer, A. (2012). Differential Effects of Cognitive Inhibition and Intelligence on Creativity. Personality and Individual Differences, 53(4), 480–485. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.04.014
• Ziegler, M., Danay, E., Heene, M., Asendorpf, J., Bühner, M. (2012). Openness, Fluid Intelligence, and Crystallized Intelligence: Toward an Integrative Model. Journal of Research in Personality, 46(2), 173–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2012.01.002
• Papousek, I., Ruggeri, K., Macher, M., Paechter, P., Heene, M., Weiss, E.M., Schulter, G., & Freudenthaler, H.H. (2012). Psychometric evaluation and experimental validation of the Statistics Anxiety Rating Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 94(1), 82-91. https://doi-org/10.1080/00223891.2011.627959
• Heene, M., Hilbert, S., Draxler, C., Ziegler, M., & Bühner, M. (2011). Masking Misfit in Confirmatory Factor Analysis by Increasing Unique Variances: A Cautionary Note on the Usefulness of Cutoff Values of Fit Indices. Psychological Methods, 16(3), 319-336. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024917
• Heene, M., Hilbert, S., Freudenthaler, H.H., & Bühner, M. (2012). Sensitivity of SEM Fit Indices with respect to Violations of uncorrelated Errors. Structural Equation Modeling, 19(1), 36-50. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2012.634710
• Heene, M., Draxler, C., Ziegler, M., & Bühner, M. (2011). Performance of the Bootstrap Rasch Model Test under Violations of non-intersecting Item Response Functions. Psychological Test and Assessment Modeling, 53(3), 283-294. https://www.psychologie-aktuell.com/fileadmin/download/ptam/3-2011_20110927/01_Heene.pdf
• Heene, M. (2011). An Old Problem with a New Solution, Raising Classical Questions: A Commentary on Humphry. (Invited commentary). Measurement, 9, 51-54. https://doi.org/10.1080/15366367.2011.558790
• Fischer, P., Krueger, J.I., Greitemeyer, T., Vogrincic, C., Kastenmüller, A. Frey, D., Heene, M., Wicher, M., & Kainbacher, M. (2011). The Bystander-Effect: A Meta-Analytic Review on Bystander Intervention in Dangerous and Non-Dangerous Emergencies. Psychological Bulletin, 137(4), 517-537. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023304
• Heene, M. (2010). A brief history of the Fail Safe Number in Applied Research. arXiv: electronic archive and distribution server for research articles.
• Strahler, K., Ehrlenspiel, F., Heene, M., & Brand, R. (2010). Competitive anxiety and cortisol awakening response in the week leading up to a competition. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 11(2), 148–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2009.10.003
• Schoenemann, P. H. & Heene, M. (2009). Predictive validities: Figures of merit or veils of deception? Psychology Science Quarterly, 51(2), 195-215. https://www.psychologie-aktuell.com/fileadmin/download/PschologyScience/2-2009/06_Heene.pdf
• Heene, M. (2008). A Rejoinder to Mackintosh and some Remarks on the Concept of General Intelligence. arXiv: electronic archive and distribution server for research articles. https://arxiv.org/abs/0808.2343
• Dziobek, E. & Heene, M. (2007). Construction of a factorial validated Questionnaire to describe Brand Personality in Germany. (Original title: Erstellung einer faktoriell validierten Skala zur Beschreibung von Markenpersönlichkeiten im deutschsprachigen Raum). Planung & Analyse, 1/2007.