Scholar
Gordon Pennycook
Google Scholar ID: AIbJenwAAAAJ
Associate Professor, Cornell University
Citations & Impact
Citations
41,388
H-index
74
i10-index
125
Publications
20
Co-authors
187
list available
Contact
Publications
Resume (English only)
Academic Achievements
- Elected to the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists (2020)
- Recipient of the Association for Psychological Science 'Rising Star' award
- Early career awards from the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, & Cognitive Science
- Early career award from the International Social Cognition Network
- Early career award from the Psychonomic Society
- Ig Nobel Peace Prize (2016) with co-authors for research on the psychology of bullshit
Education
- B.A. (Hons) in 2009 from the University of Saskatchewan, supervised by Dr. Valerie Thompson
- Moved to the University of Waterloo in 2010, working with Drs. Jonathan Fugelsang and Derek Koehler
- M.A. in 2011 and Ph.D. in 2016 from the University of Waterloo
- Completed a two-year Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at Yale University (Department of Psychology) with Dr. David Rand (2016–2018)
- Taught at Yale School of Management with Dr. Shane Frederick
Background
- Associate Professor of Psychology at Cornell University and Dorothy and Ariz Mehta Faculty Leadership Fellow
- Adjunct Professor at the Hill/Levene Schools of Business, University of Regina
- Research focuses on the nature of human reasoning and decision-making, particularly the distinction between intuitive and analytic thinking
- Argues that many consequential errors stem more from insufficient reasoning (overreliance on intuition) than motivated reasoning (e.g., driven by political identity)
- Broad research interests include religious belief, sleep paralysis, morality, creativity, smartphone use, health beliefs (e.g., homeopathy), climate change rejection, pseudo-profound bullshit, delusional ideation, fake news/misinformation, political ideology, science beliefs, and conspiracy theories
- Work sits at the intersection of cognitive and social psychology
