Thorsten Pachur

Thorsten Pachur is a Professor for Behavioral Research Methods at the Technical University of Munich (since 2022) and a Senior Research Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. His work focuses on judgment and decision-making, particularly in social contexts, adaptive rationality, and risky choices. He has led projects such as "Simple decision-making strategies" and "Search and Learn" at the Max Planck Institute.

• Education: Habilitation (2012, University of Basel), PhD in Psychology (2006, Free University of Berlin), Dipl.-Psych. (2002, Free University of Berlin), MSc in Health Psychology (2002, University of Sussex)

Research Themes: Pachur investigates how social memory structures influence decision-making, the toolbox of cognitive strategies in risky choices, and the role of attentional processes in decisions. His work bridges prospect theory and heuristic models, examining how attention shapes probability weighting and outcome evaluation.

Scientific Contributions: Recent publications include studies on the description-experience gap in intertemporal choices, age differences in risk perception, and attentional biases in sequential sampling. His 2024 work on COVID-19 vaccine refusal highlights deliberate ignorance and cognitive distortions.

• Scientific Awards: 2017 Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (APS), 2001 DAAD Scholarship, 2005 Max Planck Postdoctoral Fellowship
• Grants: Funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), German Research Foundation (DFG), and Biäsch Foundation

Editorial Roles: Consulting Editor for Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition (2013–2025), Associate Editor for Cognitive Psychology (2025–), and member of boards for journals including Decision and Psychological Review.