Andrew M. Parker is co-director of the Center for Decision Making under Uncertainty and a senior behavioral and social scientist at the RAND Corporation. His research applies core concepts in behavioral decision research to the understanding of decisionmakers' behavior in complex, real-world situations. He has led or contributed to RAND projects on decision quality, risk perception, and group decisionmaking, involving such content domains as health and financial behavior, aging, public health emergency preparedness, long-range planning for climate change, and psychological health. Past projects have addressed decisionmaking in low-income consumption, adolescent sexual and contraceptive behavior, retirement planning, drug and alcohol use, expectations for major life events, and public responses to risk information. Parker was principal investigator on a National Science Foundation-funded project validating an adult measure of decisionmaking competence, which has been used to predict major life outcomes. He currently co-leads a National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases-funded project examining how influenza risk perceptions propogate across social networks and influence vaccination decisions. He received a B.A. in psychology and statistics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; an M.S. in statistics and an M.S. behavioral decision theory, both from Carnegie Mellon University; and a Ph.D. in behavioral decision theory, also from Carnegie Mellon.
Selected Publications
Schlesinger, M., Grob, R., Shaller, D., Martino, S.C., Parker, A.M., Finucane, M.L., Cerully, J.L., & Rybowski, L., "Taking patients' narratives about clinicians from anecdote to science," New England Journal of Medicine, 373(7):675-679, 2015
Bruine de Bruin, W., Strough, J., & Parker, A.M., "Getting older isn't all that bad: Better decisions and coping when facing 'sunk costs'," Psychology and Aging, 29:642-647, 2014
Nowak, S., & Parker, A.M., "Social Network Effects of Non-Lifesaving, Early-Stage Breast Cancer Detection on Mammography Rates," American Journal of Public Health, 104:2439-2444, 2014
Parker, A.M., Vardavas, R., Markum, C.S., Gidengil, C.A., "Herd immunity as a conscious consideration (or not) in individual influenza vaccination decisions," American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 45(1):118-121, 2013
Jacobson, D., Parker, A.M., Spetzler, C., Bruine de Bruin, W., Hollenbeck, K., Heckerman, D., & Fischhoff, B., "Improved learning in U.S. history and decision competence with decision-focused curriculum.," PLoS ONE, 7(9):e45775, 2012
Parker, A.M., Bruine de Bruin, W., Yoong, J., & Willis, R., "Inappropriate confidence and retirement planning: Four studies with a national sample.," Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 25:382-389, 2012
Bruine de Bruin, W., Parker, A. M., & Fischhoff, B., "Individual differences in Adult Decision-Making Competence," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92:938-956, 2007
Parker, A. M., & Fischhoff, B., "Decision-making competence: External validation through an individual-differences approach," Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 18:1-27, 2005
