Robyn Mason Dawes (July 23, 1936
– December 14, 2010) was an American
psychologist who specialized in the field of human judgment. His research interests included human irrationality, human cooperation, intuitive expertise, and the
United States AIDS policy. He applied linear models to human decision making, including models with equal weights,
a method known as
unit-weighted regression. He co-wrote an early textbook on
mathematical psychology
Mathematical psychology is an approach to psychological research that is based on mathematical modeling of perceptual, thought, cognitive and motor processes, and on the establishment of law-like rules that relate quantifiable stimulus characte ...
(see below).
Early life and education
Dawes earned his B.A. in Philosophy at
Harvard (1958) and his Master’s in Clinical Psychology (1960) at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
before earning his Doctorate in Mathematical Psychology (1963) at the same institution.
Career
Dawes held jobs at the
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
, where he served as Department Head for five years, as well as the
Oregon Research Institute
The Oregon Research Institute is an American psychology research institute in Eugene, Oregon. It manages the International Personality Item Pool The International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) is a public domain collection of items for use in person ...
.
In 1985, Dawes joined the Department of
Social and Decision Sciences
The Department of Social and Decision Sciences (SDS) is an interdisciplinary academic department within the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. The Department of Social and Decision Sciences is headqu ...
(SDS) at
Carnegie Mellon University where he served as Department Head for six years eventually becoming the Charles J. Queenan, Jr. University Professor of Psychology.
He was a fellow in the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
and a member of the
National Research Council National Research Council may refer to:
* National Research Council (Canada), sponsoring research and development
* National Research Council (Italy), scientific and technological research, Rome
* National Research Council (United States), part of ...
's Committee on AIDS Research.
In 1990, he was awarded the William James Award by the
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...
for the book ''Rational Choice in an Uncertain World'', now in its 2nd Edition, which he co-wrote with
Reid Hastie.
In 1994, Dawes wrote a book called ''House of Cards'' and one of the topics he discusses in this book is the comparison of results between non-professionals and professionals.
In 2006, Dawes was elected a Fellow of the
American Statistical Association
The American Statistical Association (ASA) is the main professional organization for statisticians and related professionals in the United States. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts on November 27, 1839, and is the second oldest continuousl ...
"for creative research on statistics and rational decision-making, contributions to the application of cognitive psychology to survey research, and promotion of careful statistical thinking in psychology and behavioral research." He was a member of the American Psychological Association Ethics Committee.
Books
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Selected publications
*Dana, J., & Dawes, R. M. (2004). The superiority of simple alternatives to regression for social science predictions. ''Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics'', volume 29(3), pages 317-331.
*Dawes, R. M. (1962). A note on base rates and psychometric efficiency. ''Journal of Consulting Psychology'', volume 26(5), pages 422-424.
*Dawes, R. M. (1976). Shallow psychology. In J. S. Carroll & J. W. Payne (Eds.), ''Cognition and social behavior'' (pages 3–12). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
*Dawes, R. M. (1980). Social dilemmas. ''Annual Review of Psychology'', volume 31, pages 169-193.
*Dawes, R. M. (1988). Proper and improper linear models. In R. M. Dawes (Ed.), ''Rational Choice in an Uncertain World'' (pages 201-227). Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
*Dawes, R. M., Faust, D., Meehl, P. E. (1989). Clinical versus actuarial judgment. ''Science'', volume 243(4899), pages 1668-1674. doi: 10.1126/science.2648573.
*Howard, J. W., & Dawes, R. M. (1976). Linear prediction of marital happiness. ''Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin'', volume 2(4), pages 478-480.
*Swets, J. A., Dawes, R. M., & Monahan, J. (2000, October). Better decisions through science. ''Scientific American'', pages 82–87.
References
External links
Robyn Dawes' web page at Carnegie Mellon UniversityObituary at Carnegie Mellon University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawes, Robyn
American women psychologists
2010 deaths
Carnegie Mellon University faculty
1936 births
Harvard College alumni
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Fellows of the American Statistical Association
University of Michigan alumni
University of Oregon faculty