Dr. Barbara Mellers

Biography

Barbara Mellers is the George Heyman University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, with cross-appointments in the School of Arts and Sciences and the Wharton School. She has been a faculty member since 2011 and previously served as a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on judgment and decision-making processes, employing experimental methodologies to investigate how individuals form beliefs, judgments, and preferences. Mellers' studies include the effects of emotions on decision-making, the influence of context on judgments, and the understanding of rational versus irrational behavior in economic and social contexts. She has worked extensively on improving human predictions related to geopolitical and economic events, co-directing the Good Judgment Project, which conducts field experiments to enhance forecasting accuracy. Mellers has demonstrated how training and selection can cultivate forecasting skills that are systematically accurate across various events.

Research Interests

Courses