Barbara Mellers | University of Pennsylvania Department of Psychology

I. George Heyman University Professor

Department:

Psychology

Education:

BA, Psychology, University of California, Berkeley; PhD, Psychology, University of Illinois

Address:

Solomon Labs, 3720 Walnut St, Room C1

Phone:

215-746-8540

Email:

mellers@sas.upenn.edu

CV

Research Themes:

Decision Processes

Specific Research Areas:

Behavioral Decision Theory, Emotions; Fairness; Preference Measurement ; Policy Implications

Research Synopsis:

I am interested in how people develop beliefs, formulate preferences, and arrive at choices, I have focused on human decisions that deviate from rational or normative principles due to fairness concerns, anticipated emotions, contextual effects, or response mode effects. I use laboratory studies to manipulate and control variables that inform us about underlying processes. I am also interested in how behavioral decision making can shape better public policy.

Representative Publications:

Tetlock, P.E., & Mellers, B.A. (2011). Intelligent management of intelligence agencies: Escaping the accountability blame game by signaling commitment to trans-ideological epistemic values. American Psychologist.

Mellers, B.A., & Ritov, I. (2010). How beliefs influence the relative magnitude of pleasure and pain, Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 23, 369-382.

Mellers, B.A., Haselhuhn, M. Tetlock, P., Silva, J., Isen, A. (2010). Predicting behavior in economic games by looking through the eyes of the players. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 139, 743-755.

Valenzuela, A., Mellers, B.A., & Strebel, J. (2010). Pleasurable surprises: A cross-cultural study of consumer responses to unexpected incentives. Journal of Consumer Research, 36, 792-805.

Rieskamp, J., Busemeyer, J., & Mellers, B.A. (2006.) Extending the bounds of rationality: Evidence and theories of preferential choice. Journal of Economic Literature, 44, 631-661.

Arkes, H.R., & Mellers, B.A. (2002). Do juries meet our expectations? Law and Human Behavior, 26, 625-639.

Mellers, B.A., Hertwig, R., & Kahneman, D. (2001). Do frequency representations eliminate conjunction effects? An exercise in adversarial collaboration. Psychological Science, 12, 269-275.

Mellers, B.A.(2000). Choice and the relative pleasure of consequences. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 910-924.