Stephan Lewandowsky, PhD

Professor Stephan Lewandowsky is based in the School of Psychological Science where his research explores people’s responses to misinformation, propaganda and fake news. He explores how people update their memories if the information they believe then turns out to be false. This has led him to examine the persistence of misinformation and the spread of fake news in society, including conspiracy theories. 

He has recently been researching trust in politicians and policy, assessing the tweets of President Trump as a political diversionary tactic and the psychology of the internet and its implications for human cognition. Professor Lewandowsky is particularly interested in the variables that determine whether or not people accept scientific evidence – relating to, for example, vaccinations or to climate science. Of particular note is his work examining the potential conflict between human cognition and the physics of global climate change, which has led him into new areas of research in climate science and climate modelling. 

As a result of his work in climate science he was appointed Visiting Scientist at the CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere laboratory in Tasmania. Professor Lewandowsky has published more than 220 scholarly articles, chapters, and books, including numerous papers on how people respond to corrections of misinformation and what variables determine people’s acceptance of scientific findings. 

He is an award-winning teacher and was Associate Editor of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. He also frequently appears in the media and has contributed nearly 100 opinion pieces.

Education
1980 - BA, Washington College
1981 - MA, University of Toronto
7985 - PhD, University of Toronto