Devora Newman

I am Devora, a post-doctoral research fellow at the Reproducible Belief Neuroscience Lab at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, led by Dr. Rotem Botvinik-Nezer, and the Computational Social Psychology Lab at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, led by Dr. Almog Simchon. I have recently completed my PhD in the Department of Psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the guidance of Prof. Ruth Mayo, where I also earned my BA in psychology and communications and an MA in psychology.

Combining social and cognitive psychology, my research centers on the erosion of our shared reality; specifically why people struggle to discern facts from 'alternative facts,' and how personal traits like distrust and low intellectual humility that drive that disconnect. Currently, I'm exploring how people sample information from their everyday social environments to judge what is true, and how that shapes their beliefs and downstream decisions, like conspiratorial thinking. Alongside these substantive questions, I care deeply about methodological rigor, with my work demonstrating how simply including an "I don't know" response option allows to capture what people truly know more accurately, highlighting the importance of providing relevant response options that dissociate reponse constraints from a genuine expression of uncertainty. 

I see science as an inherently collaborative team effort. I enjoy working alongside colleagues and students on questions that matter right now, especially how misinformation impacts our lives and why sound science is so essential for a healthy democracy.

Throughout my PhD I was the grateful recipient of the Hebrew University's President’s Scholarship for Outstanding Ph.D. Students, a part of the Barbara and Joseph Mandel Ph.D. interdisciplinary Honors Program and the The Wohl Clean Growth Alliance research fellowship, and a student fellow at the Federmann Center for the Study of Rationality.