Christopher F. Chabris () is an American research psychologist, currently Senior Investigator (Professor) at

Geisinger Health System Geisinger Health System (GHS) is a regional health care provider to central, south-central and northeastern Pennsylvania. Headquartered in Danville, Pennsylvania, Geisinger services over 3 million patients in 45 counties. History Geisinger is na ...

, visiting fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

, France, and associate professor of Psychology and co-director of the Neuroscience Program at

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

Schenectady Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

, New York (on leave 2016–2017). He is best known as the co-author (with

Daniel Simons Daniel James Simons (born 1969) is an experimental psychologist, cognitive scientist, and Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois. Simons is best know ...

) of the popular science book '' The Invisible Gorilla'', which presents the results of research into attention and other cognitive illusions.What We Miss, New York Times review of The Invisible Gorilla, Accessed 10 October 2012
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Biography

Chabris was born in New York City in 1966, grew up in Westchester County and has lived in Massachusetts since graduating from college. He received his B.A. in computer science (1988) at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and was then Artificial Intelligence Program Manager in the Psychology Department for five years. In 1999 he received a Ph.D. degree in psychology from Harvard University, with a thesis titled "Cognitive and Neuropsychological Mechanisms of Expertise: Studies with Chess Masters." From 1999 to 2001 he was a Research Fellow at the NMR Center, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

. In Fall 2002 he was a Lecturer teaching an introductory course on cognitive neuroscience, and from 2001 to 2002 he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Harvard Psychology Department. Chabris has been a chess master since 1986. He was a founder of the ''American Chess Journal'' and a former editor of the Massachusetts Chess Association (MACA) magazine ''Chess Horizons''. He has produced several chess events and writes on monthly column called Game On for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

''.

Research

Chabris' research focuses on attention, decision-making, collective intelligence, cognitive ability, and behavioral genetics. His recent work includes the genetic origin of intelligence, demonstrating that many genes formerly associated with intelligence are actually false positives. Chabris is also a regular media commentator on psychology-related topics such as the theory that 10,000 hours of practice make someone an expert, and that listening to Mozart makes you more intelligent.

''The Invisible Gorilla''

Chabris is best known outside the academic community as the co-author with

of the book '' The Invisible Gorilla'', published in 2010. Simons and Chabris were awarded an

Ig Nobel Prize The Ig Nobel Prize ( ) is a satiric prize awarded annually since 1991 to celebrate ten unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research. Its aim is to "honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think." The name o ...

for the Invisible Gorilla experiment.Invisible gorilla steals Ig Nobel prize, New Scientist, 1 October 2004, Accessed 9 October 2012
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References

Bibliography

* ''The Invisible Gorilla'', Crown, 2010

External links

Christopher Chabris website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chabris, Christopher 1966 births American educators American medical writers American male non-fiction writers 21st-century American psychologists Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Writers from Massachusetts Writers from New York City Living people 20th-century American psychologists