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

Education

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

Honors and awards

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

Publications

Oertelt-Prigione, S. Seeland, U., Kendel, F., Rücke, M., Floeel, A., Gaissmaier, W., Heim, C. M., Schnabel, R., Stangl, V., & Regitz-Zagrosek, V. (2015).  Cardiovascular risk factor distribution and subjective risk estimation in urban women (BEFRI study): A randomized cross-sectional study.  BMC Medicine13, 52. doi: 10.1186/s12916-015-0304-9

Gigerenzer, G., & Gaissmaier, W. (2015). Decision making: Nonrational theories. In J. D. Wright (Ed.), International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences (2nd ed., Vol. 5). Amsterdam: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.26017-0

Hautz, W. E, Kämmer, J. E., Schauber, S. K., Spies, C. D., & Gaissmaier, W. (2015).  Diagnostic performance by medical students working individually or in teams.  Journal of the American Medical Association313, 303–304. doi: 10.1001/jama.2014.15770

Monteiro, S. D., Sherbino, J. D., Ilgen, J.S., Dore, K.L., Wood, T.J., Young, M.E., Bandiera, G., Blouin, D., Gaissmaier, W., Norman, G. R., Howey, E. (2015).  Disrupting diagnostic reasoning: The effect of interruptions on the diagnostic performance of residents and emergency physicians.  Academic Medicine.  doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000000614

Wilke, A., Scheibehenne, B., Gaissmaier, W., McCanney, P., & Barrett, H. C. (2015).  Illusionary pattern detection in habitual gamblers.  Evolution and Human Behavior35, 291–297. doi: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.02.010

Gigerenzer, G., & Gaissmaier, W. (2015).  Intuition und Führung.  In M. W. Fröse, S. Kaudela-Baum, & F. E. P. Dievernich (Eds.), Emotion und Intuition in Führung und Organisation.  Heidelberg: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-658-07796-9_2

Bodemer, N., & Gaissmaier, W. (2015). Risk perception.  In H. Cho, T. Reimer, & K. A. McComas (Eds.). The Sage Handbook of Risk Communication (pp. 10–23). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Moussaïd, M., Brighton, H., & Gaissmaier, W. (2015).  The amplification of risk in experimental diffusion chains.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA112(18), 5631-5636. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1421883112

Multmeier, J., Gaissmaier, W., & Wegwarth, O. (2014). Collective statistical illiteracy in health.  In B. L. Anderson & J. Schulkin (Eds.), Numerical Reasoning in Judgments and Decision Making About Health (pp. 39–58).  Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Gaissmaier, W., Anderson, B. L., & Schulkin, J. (2014).  How do physicians provide statistical information about antidepressants to hypothetical patients? Medical Decision Making34, 206–215. doi: 10.1007/978-3-658-07796-9_2

Wilke, A., Scheibehenne, B., Gaissmaier, W., McCanney, P., & Barrett, H. C. (2014).  Illusionary pattern detection in habitual gamblers.  Evolution and Human Behavior35, 291–297. doi: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.02.010

Kause, A., Prinz, R., Gaissmaier, W., & Wegwarth, O. (2014).  Risikokompetenz von Ärzten und Patienten.  In K. Hurrelmann & E. Baumann (Eds.),  Handbuch Gesundheitskommunikation (pp. 424–439).  Bern: Huber.

Kämmer, J. E., Gaissmaier, W., Reimer, T., & Schermuly, C. C. (2014).  The adaptive use of recognition in group decision making.  Cognitive Science38, 911–942. doi: 10.1111/cogs.12110

Norman, G., Sherbino, J., Dore, K., Wood, T., Young, M., Gaissmaier, W., Kreuger, S., & Monteiro, S. (2014).  The etiology of diagnostic errors: A controlled trial of system 1 versus system 2 reasoning. Academic Medicine89, 277–284. 

Sherbino, J., Norman, G. R., & Gaissmaier, W. (2013). In reply to Croskerry and Tait. Academic Medicine88, 150–151.

Treverna, L. J., Zikmund-Fisher, B. J., Edwards, A., Gaissmaier, W., Galesic, M., Han, P. K. J., King, J., Lawson, M. L., Linder, S. K., Lipkus, I., Ozanne, E., Peters, E., Timmermans, D., & Woloshin, S. (2013). Presenting quantitative information about decision outcomes: A risk communication primer for patient decision aid developers. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making13(Suppl. 2):S7, 15

Heesen, C., Gaissmaier, W., Nguyen, F., Stellmann, J.-P., Kasper, J., Köpke, S., Lederer, C., Neuhaus, A., & Daumer, M. (2013).  Prognostic risk estimates of patients with Multiple Sclerosis and their physicians: Comparison to an online analytical risk counseling tool. PLoS ONE8(5):e59042

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 Making8, 299–329.

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.

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.