Using R for conducting psychometric research

R is a statistical environment that permits to perform many various analyses, from basic descriptive statistics to advanced and complex modeling through high-level graphical features. In addition, it is open-source software with thousands of users worldwide and with (almost) daily improvements by the development of additional packages.
The purpose of this talk is twofold: (a) to provide a broad overview of R (in its basic form), RStudio (software for optimized display of R components) and R Commander (an add-on package with menus and toolboxes for R); and (b) to describe and illustrate the functioning of several R packages related to psychometrics in general and item response theory in particular. The talk will be at a theoretical low-level, focusing rather on applications and illustrations with examples. Topics to be covered may include (depending on time constraints): calibration of item response models, ability estimation, model checking, differential item functioning, computerized adaptive testing. Some information about the creation and compilation of R packages will also be given.

References:
R Core Team (2013). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. URL http://www.R-project.org/.