
Professor Stephan Lewandowsky
BA(Wash.College), MA(Tor.), PhD(Tor.)
Current positions
Chair in Cognitive Psychology
School of Psychological Science
Contact
Media contact
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Research interests
I am a cognitive scientist with an interest in computational modeling. That is, I try to understand how the mind works by writing computer simulations of our memory and decision-making processes. Recently, I have become interested in how people update their memories if things they believe turn out to be false. This has led me to examine the persistence of misinformation in society, and how myths and misinformation can spread. I have become particularly interested in the variables that determine whether or not people accept scientific evidence, for example surrounding vaccinations or climate science.
More biographical detail including a list of all my scholarly publications can be found on my academic homepage at www.cogsciWA.com.
I also blog at http://www.shapingtomorrowsworld.org/ on matters relating to climate change and global challenges. (On Twitter I am @STWorg).
I am also currently serving as Digital Content Editor for the Psychonomic Society and I blog routinely on cognitive research conducted by the Society at www.psychonomic.org.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Protecting the Democratic Information Space in Europe
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Psychological ScienceDates
01/10/2021 to 30/09/2026
JIU-JITSU WITH MISINFORMATION IN THE AGE OF COVID: USING REFUTATION-BASED LEARNING TO ENHANCE VACCINE UPTAKE AND KNOWLEDGE AMONG HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS AND THE PUBLIC
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Psychological ScienceDates
01/04/2021 to 31/03/2025
Reclaiming individual autonomy and democratic discourse online: How to rebalance human and algorithmic decision making
Principal Investigator
Description
In one corner is the online information architecture with sophisticated personalization algorithms and persuasive designs that shape people's information diets, often without their knowledge or input. In the other corner…Managing organisational unit
Department of Computer ScienceDates
01/03/2021 to 28/02/2025
Inoculating against the spread of Islamophobic and extremist Islamist disinformation
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Psychological ScienceDates
01/09/2019 to 31/08/2020
Neural signatures of misinformation effects in memory using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging techniques
Principal Investigator
Description
The aim of this research is to use functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to
identify the regions associated with processing of coherent narratives, such as short
stories, in particular those…Managing organisational unit
School of Psychological ScienceDates
01/10/2013 to 31/12/2015
Publications
Selected publications
01/01/2022Social Sampling and Expressed Attitudes
Psychological Review
The psychological drivers of misinformation belief and its resistance to correction
Nature Reviews Psychology
Technology and democracy: a paradox wrapped in a contradiction inside an irony
Memory, Mind & Media (MMM)
Recent publications
04/03/2022Fake news and participatory propaganda
Cognitive Illusions
A call for immediate action to increase COVID-19 vaccination uptake to prepare for the third pandemic winter
Nature Communications
An instrument to measure psychosocial determinants of health care professionals’ vaccination behavior
Expert Review of Vaccines
A systematic review of worldwide causal and correlational evidence on digital media and democracy
Nature Human Behaviour
A toolkit for understanding and addressing climate scepticism
Nature Human Behaviour