Research Interests

Matt Brown, PhD, is an assistant professor at Geisinger’s Autism and Developmental Medicine Institute.

His research focuses on how psychological measurement (e.g., tests or surveys) can be used to better understand individual differences and improve the well-being of people in the workplace.

One of his primary interests is the development and use of psychometric testing for measuring individual differences in cognitive and non-cognitive abilities. Testing plays an important role in healthcare, informing how organizations hire providers and staff, helping define the phenotypes of specific health conditions and determining whether a patient meets diagnostic criteria.

Dr. Brown has developed tests designed to measure effectiveness in social situations as well as more general cognitive abilities. He’s also studied how individual differences predict life outcomes and how to develop tests that can be administered remotely using mobile devices.

Dr. Brown’s secondary research interest includes the construction and use of opinion surveys. In particular, he collaborates with Geisinger’s Center for Professionalism and Well-Being to design surveys to help identify employee concerns and improve well-being. He also studies the research-practice gap between how survey data is used in organizations and the evidence for how survey data can help create change and improve team dynamics.

As director of the Survey Core, he consults with other researchers who are interested in conducting survey research or designing a survey for their own study.