Social Cognition Lab at GVSU
Welcome to the Social Cognition Lab at GVSU. Michael Wolfe and Todd Williams are the co-directors. We have two main lines of research:
Belief change and awareness of belief change: What happens when people read information that is inconsistent with their beliefs? We study the circumstances under which people may or may not change beliefs in response to information. We also study the extent to which people are aware of these changes when they do take place, and the potential consequences of being aware or not aware of belief changes.
Machiavellianism: Machiavellianism is a personality trait that refers to the extent to which people see social relationships as things that can be used to further one's own goals. We have studied the relationship between Machiavellianism and memory when people either tell the truth or lie. We are currently investigating other aspects of Machiavellianism.
Michael B. Wolfe
Office Address: 2224 ASH, GVSU, Allendale, MI 4940
Phone: (616) 331-2989
Email: [email protected]
B.A., University of California, Santa Barbara
Ph.D., University of Colorado, Boulder
Todd J. Williams
Office Address: 2224 ASH, GVSU, Allendale, MI 49401
Phone: (616) 331- 8976
Email: [email protected]
B.A., University of Alberta, Canada
Ph.D., University of Alberta, Canada
Publications
Wolfe, M. B., Williams, T. J., Denison, A. J., & Hart, L. W. (2024) Verification of past beliefs influences current beliefs. The Open Psychology Journal, 17, 1-13.
Wolfe, M. B., & Bowdle, B. F. (2024). Textbase and situation model representations as educational constructs. Discourse Processes, 61, 342-346.
Hart, L., Wolfe, M., Williams, T. J. & Russell, G. (2024). Belief change after reading predicts argumentative essay content. Instructional Science, 53, 151-172,
Wolfe, M. B. & Williams, T. J., Dewey, E., Mitchell, J., Pomp, A. & Wolfe, B. (2023). Awareness of health change is associated with weight loss following bariatric surgery. Health Psychology, 42(6): 403-410.
Monaghan, C., Bizumic, B., Williams, T., & Sellbom, M. (2020). Two-dimensional Machiavellianism: Conceptualization, theory, and measurement of the views and tactics dimensions. Psychological Assessment, 32(3), 277–293.
Wolfe, M. B. & Williams, T. J. (2018). Poor metacognitive awareness of belief change. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 71, 1989-1910.
Wolfe, M. B. & Griffin, T. D. (2018). Beliefs and discourse processes. In M. F. Schober, D. N. Rapp, & M. A. Britt (Eds). Handbook of Discourse Processes, 2nd Edition. (pp. 295-314). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
Wolfe, M. B. & Kurby, C. A. (2017). Belief in the claim of an argument influences perceived argument soundness. Discourse Processes, 54, 599-617.
Wolfe, M. B. & Williams, T. J. (2017). Effects of text content and beliefs on informal argument evaluation. Discourse Processes, 54, 446-462.