Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Gaissmaier

Professor

Office D 512
Tel.: +49 7531 88-3024
Fax: +49 7531 88-5288
gaissmaier@uni-konstanz.de

Research interests

  • Judgment and decision making
  • Individual differences in decision making
  • Risk perception and communication
  • Memory-based decision making
  • Medical decision making
  • Ecological rationality
  • Models of heuristics

Professional experience

since 2014Full Professor of Social Psychology and Decision Sciences (W3), Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Germany
since 2014Adjunct Researcher, Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
2008–2014Chief Research Scientist, Harding Center for Risk Literacy, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
2007Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
2003–2006Predoctoral Fellow, Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany

Education

2013Habilitation in Psychology, University of Heidelberg, Germany
2007PhD in Psychology, Free University Berlin, Germany
2002Diploma in Psychology (equivalent to Master’s Degree), Free University Berlin, Germany

Honors and awards

2013Rising Star, Association for Psychological Science
2012Fellow, German Young Academy, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities & German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
2009Dissertation prize (runner up), German Psychological Society, Section: General Psychology
2008Otto Hahn Medal for outstanding scientific achievements, Max Planck Society
2006New Investigator Award, Brunswik Society

Publications

Kämmer, J. E., Gaissmaier, W., & Czienskowski, U. (2013).  The environment matters: Comparing individuals and dyads in their adaptive use of decision strategies.  Judgment and Decision Making, 8, 299–329.

read more

Gaissmaier, W., & Gigerenzer, G. (2013).  Wenn fehlinformierte Patienten versuchen, informierte Gesundheitsentscheidungen zu treffen. In G. Gigerenzer & J. A. Muir Gray (Eds.), Bessere Ärzte, bessere Patienten, bessere Medizin: Aufbruch in ein transparentes Gesundheitswesen (Strüngmann Forum Reports) (pp. 29-44). Berlin: Medizinisch Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft.

read more

Hertwig, R., Buchan, H., Davis, D. A., Gaissmaier, W., Härter, M., Kolpatzik, K., Légaré, F., Schmacke, N., & Wormer, H. (2013).  Wie werden Gesundheitsfachkräfte und Patienten im Jahr 2020 zusammenarbeiten? Ein Manifest für den Wandel.  In G. Gigerenzer & J. A. Muir Gray (Eds.), Bessere Ärzte, bessere Patienten, bessere Medizin: Aufbruch in ein transparentes Gesundheitswesen (Strüngmann Forum Reports) (pp. 325–347). Berlin: Medizinisch Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft.

read more

Gaissmaier, W., & Gigerenzer, G. (2012). 9/11, Act II: A fine-grained analysis of regional variations in traffic fatalities in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Psychological Science, 23, 1449–1454.

read more

Wegwarth, O., Schwartz, L. M., Woloshin, S., Gaissmaier, W., & Gigerenzer, G. (2012). Do physicians understand cancer screening statistics? A national survey of primary care physicians in the United States. Annals of Internal Medicine, 156, 340–349, W-92-W-94.

read more

Gigerenzer, G., Dieckmann, A., & Gaissmaier, W. (2012). Efficient cognition through limited research. In P. M. Todd, G. Gigerenzer & the ABC Research Group, Ecological rationality: Intelligence in the world (pp. 241–273). New York: Oxford University Press.

read more

Gigerenzer, G., & Gaissmaier, W. (2012). Intuition und Führung: Wie gute Entscheidungen entstehen. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann-Stiftung.

read more

Gaissmaier, W., Wegwarth, O., Skopec, D., Müller, A.-S., Broschinski, S., & Politi, M. C. (2012). Numbers can be worth a thousand pictures: Individual differences in understanding graphical and numerical representations of health-related information. Health Psychology, 31, 286–296.

read more

Betsch, C., Brewer, N. T., Brocard, P., Davies, P., Gaissmaier, W., Haase, N., Leask, J., Renkewitz, F., Renner, B., Reyna, V. F., Rossmann, C., Sachse, K., Schachinger, A., Siegrist, M., & Stryk, M. (2012). Opportunities and challenges of Web 2.0 for vaccination decisions. Vaccine, 30, 3727–3733.

read more

Trevena, L., Zikmund-Fisher, B., Edwards, A., Gaissmaier, W., Galesic, M., Han, P., King, J., Lawson, M., Linder, S., Lipkus, I., Ozanne, E., Peters, E., Timmermans, D., & Woloshin, S. (2012). Presenting probabilities [Chapter C]. R. Volk & H. Llewellyn-Thomas (Eds.), 2012 Update of the International Patient Decision Aids Standards (IPDAS) Collaboration's Background Document. Cardiff, CF: IPDAS Collaboration

read more

Arkes, H. R., & Gaissmaier, W. (2012). Psychological research and the prostate-cancer screening controversy. Psychological Science, 23 (6), 547–553.

read more

Bodemer, N., & Gaissmaier, W. (2012). Risk communication in health. In S. Roeser, R. Hillerbrand, P. Sandin, & M. Peterson (Eds.), Handbook of risk theory: Epistemology, decision theory, ethics, and social implications of risk (Vol. 2, pp. 621–660). Dordrecht: Springer.

read more

Sherbino, J., Dore, K. L., Wood, T. J., Young, M. E., Gaissmaier, W., Kreuger, S., & Norman, G. R. (2012). The relationship between response time and diagnostic accuracy.  Academic Medicine, 87, 785–791.

read more

Gaissmaier, W. (2012). Warum Patienten ein Recht auf verständliche Informationen haben. Bauchredner, 108, 85–89.

read more

Gaissmaier, W., Fific, M., & Rieskamp, J. (2011).  Analyzing response times to understand decision processes.  In M. Schulte-Mecklenbeck, A. Kühberger, & R. Ranyard (Eds.), A handbook of process tracing methods for decision research: A critical review and user's guide (pp. 141–162).  New York: Psychology Press.

read more

Wegwarth, O., Gaissmaier, W., & Gigerenzer, G. (2011). Deceiving numbers: Survival rates and their impact on doctors’ risk communication. Medical Decision Making, 31, 386–394.

read more

Gaissmaier, W. (2011). Die Evidenz transparent machen. Das Österreichische Gesundheitswesen, 52, 13–15.

read more

Gaissmaier, W., & Marewski, J. N. (2011). Forecasting elections with mere recognition from small, lousy samples: A comparison of collective recognition, wisdom of crowds, and representative polls. Judgment and Decision Making, 6, 73–88.

read more

Gigerenzer, G., & Gaissmaier, W. (2011). Heuristic decision making. Annual Review of Psychology, 62, 451–482.

read more

Hertwig, R., Buchan, H., Davis, D. A., Gaissmaier, W., Härter, M., Kolpatzik, K., Légaré, F., Schmacke, N., & Wormer, H. (2011). How will health care professionals and patients work together in 2020? A manifesto for change. In G. Gigerenzer & J. A. Muir Gray (Eds.), Better doctors, better patients, better decisions: Envisioning health care 2020 (pp. 317–337). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

read more