Michael L. DeKay
Professor DeKay's research is focused on the psychology of judgment and decision making. Recent and ongoing research projects involve perceptions of health, safety, and ecological risks; precautionary reasoning; information distortion in risky decisions; the perceived fungibility of outcomes in repeated decisions; and applications in environmental and medical decision making.
Background
Professor DeKay holds a BS (1985) in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology, an MS (1987) in chemistry from Cornell University, and an MA (1992) and PhD (1994) in social psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. In 1996, he completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in medical decision making at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. From 1996 to 2007, he was a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University, in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy and in the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management.Selected Publications
DeKay, M. L., Patiņo-Echeverri, D., & Fischbeck, P. S. (2009). Better safe than sorry: Precautionary reasoning and implied dominance in risky decisions. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 22, 338-361.
DeKay, M. L. (2009). Physicians' anticipated regret and diagnostic testing: Comment on Hozo & Djulbegovic, 2008. Medical Decision Making, 29, 317-319.
DeKay, M.L., Patino-Echeverri, D., & Fischbeck, P.S. (2009). Distortion of probability and outcome information in risky decisions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 109, 79-92.
Attari, S., Schoen, M., Davidson, C., DeKay, M. L., Bruine de Bruin, W., Dawes, R., & Small, M. (2009). Preferences for change: Do individuals prefer voluntary action, soft regulations, or hard regulations to decrease fossil fuel consumption? Ecological Economics, 68, 1701-1710.
Willis, H. H., & DeKay, M. L. (2007). The roles of group membership, beliefs, and norms in ecological risk perception. Risk Analysis, 27, 1365-1380.
Bronfman, N. C., Cifuentes, L. A., DeKay, M. L., & Willis, H. H. (2007). Accounting for variation in the explanatory power of the psychometric paradigm: The effects of aggregation and focus. Journal of Risk Research, 10, 527-554.
DeKay, M. L., Hershey, J. C., Spranca, M. D., Ubel, P. A., & Asch, D. A. (2006). Are medical treatments for individuals and groups like single-play and multiple-play gambles? Judgment and Decision Making, 1, 134-145.
DeKay, M. L., & Kim, T. G. (2005). When things don't add up: The role of perceived fungibility in repeated-play decisions. Psychological Science, 16, 667-672.
Willis, H. H., DeKay, M. L., Fischhoff, B., & Morgan, M. G. (2005). Aggregate, disaggregate, and hybrid analyses of ecological risk perceptions. Risk Analysis, 25, 405-428.
Willis, H. H., DeKay, M. L., Morgan, M. G., Florig, H. K., & Fischbeck, P. S. (2004). Ecological risk ranking: Development and evaluation of a method for improving public participation in environmental decision making. Risk Analysis, 24, 363-378.
DeKay, M. L., Small, M. J., Fischbeck, P. S., Farrow, R. S., Cullen, A., Kadane, J. B., Lave, L. B., Morgan, M. G., & Takemura, K. (2002). Risk-based decision analysis in support of precautionary policies. Journal of Risk Research, 5, 391-417.
DeKay, M. L., Greeno, C. G., & Houck, P. R. (2002). Searching for a two-factor model of marriage duration: Commentary on Gottman and Levenson. Family Process, 41, 97-103.
Florig, H. K., Morgan, M. G., Morgan, K. M., Jenni, K. E, Fischhoff, B., Fischbeck, P. S., & DeKay, M. L. (2001). A deliberative method for ranking risks (I): Overview and test bed development. Risk Analysis, 21, 913-921.
Morgan, K. M., DeKay, M. L., Fischbeck, P. S., Fischhoff, B., Morgan, M. G., & Florig, H. K. (2001). A deliberative method for ranking risks (II): Evaluation of validity and agreement among risk managers. Risk Analysis, 21, 923-937.
Morgan, M. G., Florig, H. K., DeKay, M. L., & Fischbeck, P. S. (2000). Categorizing risks for risk ranking. Risk Analysis, 20, 49-58.
DeKay, M. L., Nickerson, C. A. E., Ubel, P. A., Hershey, J. C., Spranca, M. D., & Asch, D. A. (2000). Further explorations of medical decisions for individuals and groups. Medical Decision Making, 20, 39-44.
Ubel, P. A., Spranca, M. D., DeKay, M. L., Hershey, J. C., & Asch, D. A. (1998). Public preferences for prevention versus cure: What if an ounce of prevention is worth only an ounce of cure? Medical Decision Making, 18, 141-148.
Asch, D. A., Hershey, J. C., DeKay, M. L., Pauly, M. V., Patton, J. P., Jedrziewski, M. K., Frei, F., Giardine, R., Kant, J. A., & Mennuti, M. T. (1998). Carrier screening for cystic fibrosis: Costs and clinical outcomes. Medical Decision Making, 18, 202-212.
DeKay, M. L., & Asch, D. A. (1998). Is the defensive use of diagnostic tests good for patients, or bad? Medical Decision Making, 18, 19-28.
DeKay, M. L., & Asch, D. A. (1998). Offensive testing-the balancing act, the evil twin, and the pure play. Medical Decision Making, 18, 35-36.
Asch, D. A., & DeKay, M. L. (1997). Euthanasia among U.S. critical care nurses: Practices, attitudes, and social and professional correlates. Medical Care, 35, 890-900.
Ubel, P. A., DeKay, M. L., Baron, J., & Asch, D. A. (1996). Public preferences for efficiency and racial equity in kidney transplant allocation decisions. Transplantation Proceedings, 28, 2997-3002.
DeKay, M. L. (1996). The difference between Blackstone-like error ratios and probabilistic standards of proof. Law & Social Inquiry, 21, 95-132.
Ubel, P. A., DeKay, M. L., Baron, J., & Asch, D. A. (1996). Cost-effectiveness analysis in a setting of budget constraints: Is it equitable? New England Journal of Medicine, 334, 1174-1177.
DeKay, M. L., & McClelland, G. H. (1996). Probability and utility components of endangered species preservation programs. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 2, 60-83.
