Associate Professor
Brian Lamb School of Communication
Purdue University
100 North University Street
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2098

Email: treimer@purdue.edu
Skype: torsten.reimer  

Torsten Reimer (Ph.D. in Psychology, Free University of Berlin, Germany, 1996; Habilitation in Psychology, University of Basel, Switzerland, 2005) is an associate professor of organizational communication and an affiliated faculty member of the Department of Psychological Sciences at Purdue University. Professor Reimer studies the role of communication in decision making and organizational behavior. He has taught courses in social, cognitive, and organizational psychology at the Universities of Potsdam, Berlin, and Basel. Before moving to the U.S., Dr. Reimer worked at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, an interdisciplinary center of excellence devoted to the study of human cognition. An award-winning teacher and researcher, he has published over 50 publications in journals, books, and conference proceedings, including publications in Cognitive Science, Theory and Decision, Marketing Letters, Journal of Experimental Psychology, Human Communication Research, Communication Monographs, Communication Yearbook, and Management Revue. Professor Reimer's research aims to understand the functionality of heuristic information processing in advice giving, persuasion, and group decision-making. His research program has the overarching goal to explore how communication principles facilitate decision making by guiding information processing and reducing information overload. Applied topics include the design of persuasive messages and risk communication.

Social Psychology Network; Google Scholar Citations

Selected Awards

Dennis Gouran Research Award, Group Communication Division, National Communication Association, 2012; Top Paper Award, Communication and Social Cognition Division, National Communication Association, 2012; Golden Anniversary Monograph Award, National Communication Association, 2008; Outstanding Reviewer Award, Organizational Behavior Division, Academy of Management, 2008; Award for Excellence in Research, School of Psychology, University of Basel, Switzerland, 2005

Current Collaborations

Tim Levine (Professor of Communication, Department of Communication, Michigan State University)

Gerd Gigerenzer's group at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany

Ulrich Hoffrage (Professor of Decision Science at HEC Lausanne, Switzerland)

Ralph Hertwig (Professor of Cognitive and Decision Science at the University of Basel, Psychology Department, Switzerland)

Verlin Hinsz (Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology, Psychology Department, NDSU)

Shenghua Luan (Assistant Professor of Psychology, Singapore Management University)

Rui Mata (Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Psychology, Stanford University)

Teaching

COM320: Small Group Communication

COM674: Judgment and Decision Making

COM318: Principles of Persuasion

COM400: Research Methods in Communication

COM582: Descriptive/Experimental Research

COM600 (with Dr. Connaughton / Dr. Roberst): Foundations of Human Communication Inquiry I

COM601: Foundations of Human Communication Inquiry II

Service

Vice-Chair (2011-2012), Group Communication Division, National Communication Association (NCA) (Vice-Chair-Elect, 2010-2011)

Member (2012-2013), Board of Directors, INGRoup (Interdisciplinary Network for Group Research)

Member (2009-2010), Chair (2010-2011) of the Golden Anniversary Monograph Award Committee, National Communication Association (NCA)

Supervisor of Com320: Group Communication (2010-), Coordinator of the Organizational Communication Unit (2011-2012), Member of the Strategic Planning Committee, Brian Lamb School of Communication (2011-2012), Member of the Graduate Committee, Brian Lamb School of Communication (2011-2012), Member of the Curriculum Committee, College of Liberal Arts (2011-2013), Supervision of the Research Participation System and Lab, Brian Lamb School of Communication (2011-2013)

Reviewing: Behavior Research Methods, Communication Monographs, Communication Quarterly, Communication Studies, Communication Theory, Diagnostica, Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, Human Communication Research, International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, Journal of Communication, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Management Communication Quarterly, NeuroPsychoEconomics, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, The Journal of the Learning Sciences, Risk Analysis, Social Influence, Zeitschrift für experimentelle Psychologie (Experimental  Psychology), Zeitschrift für Sozialpsychologie (Social Psychology); National Science Foundation (NSF) (Decision, Risk and Management Science Program), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC); UK Economic and Social Research Council (research grants), The Leverhulme Trust (UK, research grants), Research stipends for graduate students in Austria; Academy of Management (AOM), Cognitive Science Conference, International Communication Association (ICA), National Communication Association (NCA), Best Paper Award Committee (Organizational Behavior Division of the Academy of Management), Golden Anniversary Monograph Award Committee (National Communication Association)

Editorial Board: Social Influence, Communication Studies, Communication Quarterly, The Open Communication Journal

Expert Group on Consumers' Risk Perceptions of Food Choice, Consumer Science Task Force, International Life Sciences Institute Europe (ILSI), Brussels, Belgium

Books

Cho, H., Reimer, T., & McComas, K. A. (in preparation). The Sage Handbook of Risk Communication. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Reimer, T. (1999). Argumentieren und Problemloesen. [Argumentation and problem solving.] Lengerich, Germany: Pabst Science Publisher.

Recent Publications

Blair, J. P., Levine, T. R., Reimer, T., & McCluskey, J. D. (2012). The gap between reality and research: Another look at detecting deception in field settings. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 35(4), xxx-xxx.

Luan, S., Katsikopoulos, K., & Reimer, T. (2012). When does diversity trump ability (and vice versa) in group decision making? A simulation study. PLoS ONE, 7(2), 1-9, e31043.

Reimer, T., Hertwig, R., & Sipek, S. (2012). Probabilistic persuasion: A Brunswikian theory of argumentation. In R. Hertwig, U. Hoffrage, & the ABC Research Group (Eds.), Simple heuristics in a social world (pp. 33-55). New York: Oxford University Press.

Reimer, T., & Hoffrage, U. (2012). Simple heuristics and information sharing in groups. In R. Hertwig, U. Hoffrage, & the ABC Research Group (Eds.), Simple heuristics in a social world (pp. 266-286). New York: Oxford University Press.

Luan, S., Katsikopoulos, K., & Reimer, T. (2012). The "less-is-more" effect in group decision making. In R. Hertwig, U. Hoffrage, & the ABC Research Group (Eds.), Simple heuristics in a social world (pp. 245-265). New York: Oxford University Press.

Reimer, T., & Hoffrage, U. (2012). Ecological rationality for teams and committees: Heuristics in group decision making. In P. M. Todd, G. Gigerenzer, & the ABC Research Group (Eds.), Ecological rationality: Intelligence in the world (pp. 335-359). New York: Oxford University Press.

Katsikopoulos, K., & Reimer, T. (2012). Recognition-based consensus: How groups use partial ignorance to make good group decisions. In P. M. Todd, G. Gigerenzer, & the ABC Research Group (Eds.), Ecological rationality: Intelligence in the world (pp. 167-183). New York: Oxford University Press.

Reimer, T., & Katsikopoulos, K. (2011). The use of recognition in group decision making. In G. Gigerenzer, R. Hertwig, & T. Pachur (Eds.), Fast and frugal heuristics: Theory, tests, and applications (pp. 561-576). New York: Oxford University Press. [Reprint of journal article].

Hertwig, R., Herzog, S., Schooler, L., & Reimer, T. (2011). Fluency heuristic: A model of how the mind exploits a by-product of information retrieval. In G. Gigerenzer, R. Hertwig, & T. Pachur (Eds.), Fast and frugal heuristics: Theory, tests, and applications (pp. 540-560). New York: Oxford University Press. [Reprint of journal article].

** Reimer, T., Reimer, A., & Hinsz, V. (2010). Naïve groups can solve the hidden-profile problem. Human Communication Research, 36, 443-467.

** Reimer, T., Reimer, A., & Czienskowski, U. (2010). Decision-making groups attenuate the discussion bias in favor of shared information: A meta-analysis. Communication Monographs, 77, 122-143.

Skubisz, C., Reimer, T., & Hoffrage, U. (2009). Communicating quantitative risk information. In C. Beck (Ed.), Communication Yearbook 33 (pp. 176–211). New York: Routledge.

Hertwig, R., Herzog, S., Schooler, L., & Reimer, T. (2008). Fluency heuristic: A model of how the mind exploits a by-product of information retrieval. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 34, 1191–1206.

Schwenk, G., & Reimer, T. (2008). Simple heuristics in complex networks: Models of social influence. Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation (JASSS), 11 (3) 4 <http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac. uk/11/3/4.html>.

Reimer, T., & Rieskamp, J. (2007). Fast and frugal heuristics. In R. F. Baumeister & K. D. Vohs (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Social Psychology (pp. 346-348). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Rieskamp, J., & Reimer, T. (2007). Ecological rationality. In R. F. Baumeister & K. D. Vohs (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Social Psychology (pp. 273-275). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

** Reimer, T., Kuendig, S., Hoffrage, U., Park, E., & Hinsz, V. (2007). Effects of the information environment on group discussions and decisions in the hidden-profile paradigm. Communication Monographs, 74, 1-28.

Reimer, T., Hoffrage, U., & Katsikopoulos, K. (2007). Entscheidungsheuristiken in Gruppen [Heuristics in group decision-making]. NeuroPsychoEconomics, 2, 7-29.

Raab, M., & Reimer, T. (2007). Intuitive und deliberative Entscheidungen im Sport [Intuitive and deliberative decisions in sports]. In N. Hagemann, M. Tietjens, & B. Strauß (Eds.), Psychologie der sportlichen Höchstleistung [The psychology of peak performance in sport] (pp. 93-117). Göttingen: Hogrefe.

Schwenk, G., & Reimer, T. (2007). Social influence and bounded rationality: Heuristic decision making in complex networks. In D. S. McNamara, & G. Trafton (Eds.), Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 1479-1484). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Brand, S., Reimer, T., & Opwis, K. (2007). How do we learn in a negative mood? Effects of a negative mood on transfer and learning. Learning and Instruction, 17, 1-16.

Reimer, T., Park, E., & Hinsz, V. (2006). Shared and coordinated cognition in competitive and dynamic task environments: An information-processing perspective for team sports. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 4, 376-400.

Reimer, T., & Hoffrage, U. (2006). The ecological rationality of simple group heuristics: Effects of group member strategies on decision accuracy. Theory and Decision, 60, 403-438.

Adamowicz, W. A., Hanemann, M., Swait, J., Johnson, R., Layton, D., Regenwetter, M., Reimer, T., & Sorkin, R. (2005). Decision Strategy and Structure in Households: A "groups" perspective. Marketing Letters, 16, 387-399.

** Reimer, T., & Hoffrage, U. (2005). Can simple group heuristics detect hidden profiles in randomly generated environments? Swiss Journal of Psychology, 64, 21-37.

** Reimer, T., Bornstein, A.-L., & Opwis, K. (2005). Positive and negative transfer effects in groups. In T. Betsch & S. Haberstroh (Eds.), The routine of decision making (pp. 175-192). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

** Reimer, T., Mata, R., Katsikopoulos, K., & Opwis, K. (2005). On the interplay between heuristic and systematic processes in persuasion. In B.G. Bara, L. Barsalou, & M. Bucciarelli (Eds.), Proceedings of the Twenty-Seventh Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 1833-1838). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Brunner, T., Reimer, T., & Opwis, K. (2005). Cancellation and focus: The impact of feature attractiveness on recall. In K. Opwis & I.-K. Penner (Eds.), Proceedings of KogWis05. The German Cognitive Science Conference 2005 (pp. 27-32). Basel: Schwabe.

Brand, S., Reimer, T., & Opwis, K. (2005). Effects of negative mood on transfer and learning. In K. Opwis & I.-K. Penner (Eds.), Proceedings of KogWis05. The German Cognitive Science Conference 2005 (pp. 21-26). Basel: Schwabe.

** Reimer, T., & Katsikopoulos, K. (2004). The use of recognition in group decision-making. Cognitive Science, 28, 1009-1029.

** Hoffrage, U., & Reimer, T. (2004). Models of bounded rationality: The approach of fast and frugal heuristics. Management Revue, 15, 437-459.

Reimer, T., Mata, R., & Stoecklin, M. (2004). The use of heuristics in persuasion: Deriving cues on source expertise from argument quality. Current Research in Social Psychology, 10, 69-83.