Thomas, Rick P.

Ph.D. (2004, Kansas State University)

Assistant Professor,
Cognitive Psychology

rthomas at psychology dot ou dot edu

My primary research focus involves the application of mathematical memory models to study the role of memory processes in judgment and decision-making phenomena. In the laboratory, I employ experimental methods and procedures from memory paradigms to help understand judgment processes. My current research investigates how a modified version of MINERVA-DM, HyGene, accounts for the effects of hypothesis generation on probability judgments, confidence judgments and hypothesis testing.

I also do work concerning the study of expertise, primarily in the areas of performance evaluation and the development of decision support tools. I am particularly interested in applications of the CWS index to evaluate expertise. CWS employs the ratio of discrimination to inconsistency within a set of judgments to assess the performance of experts. My colleagues and I have successfully applied CWS in auditing, livestock judging, medicine, personnel selection, and air traffic control (ATC).

Gonzalez, C., & Thomas, R. P. (In press). The role of automaticity in dynamic decision environments. Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making.

Dougherty, M. R., Franco-Watkins, A., & Thomas, R. P. (In press). The psychological plausibility of fast and frugal heuristics. Psychological Review.

Dougherty, M. R., Thomas, R. P., & Franco-Watkins, A. (In press). Postscript: Vague heuristics revisited. Psychological Review.

Thomas, R. P., & Dougherty, M. R. P., Sprenger, A., & Harbison, I. (In press). Hypothesis generation and human judgment. Psychological Review.

Dougherty, M. R. P., & Thomas, R. P. (In press). Hypothesis generation and judgment from memory. In Kattan, Michael W. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Medical Decision Making.

Dana, J., & Thomas, R. P. (2006). In defense of clinical judgment…and mechanical combination? Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 19, 413-428.

Shanteau, J., Friel, B. M., Thomas, R. P., & Raacke, J. (2005). Development of expertise in a dynamic decision-making environment. In Betsch, T., & Haberstroh, S. (Eds.), The routines of decision making. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Elgin, P. D., & Thomas, R. P. (2004). An Integrated Decision-Making Model for Categorizing Weather Products and Decision Aids, NASA/TM-2004-212990

Burgess, M. A., & Thomas, R. P. (2004). The Effect of NEXRAD Image Looping and National Convective Weather Forecast Product on Pilot Decision Making in the Use of a Cockpit Weather Information Display , NASA/CR-2004-212655

Shanteau, J., Weiss, D. J., & Thomas, R. P. (2003). The puzzle of expertise: Approaches and issues in defining who is (and who is not) an expert. In Schneider, S. L., & Shanteau, J. (Eds.), Emerging perspectives on judgment and decision research. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Thomas, R. P., & Shanteau, J., (2002). Laplacean demons to ecologically rational beings: Can simple heuristics make us smart? Journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology. 16, 359-366.

Shanteau, J., Weiss, D.J., Thomas, R. P., & Pounds, J. (2002). Evaluation of a new performance-based measure of expertise. European Journal of Operations Research, 136, 253-263.

Thomas, R. P., Willems, B., Shanteau, J., Raacke, J., & Friel, B. M. (2001). CWS applied to controllers in a high-fidelity simulation of ATC. Proceedings from the 11th Annual International Symposium on Aviation Psychology. Columbus, OH.

Shanteau, J. & Thomas, R. P. (2001) Fast and frugal heuristics: What about unfriendly environments. Behavioral & Brain Science, 22, 5.

Dougherty, M. R. P., Gettys, C. F., & Thomas, R. P. (1997). The role of mental simulation in judgments of likelihood. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 70, 135 -148.