Jeffrey DeWitt, PhD

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Alumni

Dr. Jeff DeWitt was a CBSSM Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 2017-2020.

Jeff DeWitt completed a PhD in Social Psychology in 2017 while working in Dr. Gretchen Chapman's Medical Decision Making Lab at Rutgers University. Broadly, Jeff's research is focused on the interplay between social cognition and behavioral decision making with an emphasis on healthcare applications. In particular, he has investigated how our representations and predictions of others' beliefs and goals can influence our own in altruistic medical contexts such as whether to donate blood or receive a flu shot. 

Jeff's current work seeks to integrate insights from (boundedly rational) theories of individual decision making with shared decision making tools and interventions aimed at the de-intensification of medical services. He is interested in whether patient and provider adherence to best practices can be improved using mechanisms proposed by leading information-processing theories of decision making (e.g. Query Theory, Fuzzy Trace Theory, and Decision Field Theory) as well as social factors such as the prevailing norm(s) of one's reference group.