Barnabas Szaszi, PhD

As an economist and psychologist, his primary goal is to understand how to support vulnerable people to make better decisions. Accordingly, He investigates (a) how the interaction of thinking dynamics and individual differences lead to suboptimal decision making (b) how deprived economic position (perceived or real) deteriorates decision making, how to design environments that create more equality. He is also interested in how psychological science can be improved.

E-mail: szaszi.barnabas at ppk.elte.hu

Employment 

  • 2019 jan.-   Assistant Professor, Eotvos Lorand University 
  • 2018 sept. Teaching Assistant, Eotvos Lorand University 

Education 

  • 2014- 2018 Psychology, PhD (summa cum laude), Eotvos Lorand University 
  • 2016- 2017 Visiting Fulbright Researcher, Columbia University, New York,  
  • 2011- 2013 Cognitive Psychology, MSc (with distinction), Budapest University of Technology and Economics 
  • 2008- 2011 Applied Economics, BA, Corvinus University of Budapest 
  • 2008- 2011 Psychology, BA (with distinction), Pázmány Péter Catholic University 

Short term research visits:  

  • Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School, visiting Elke Weber, (2018) 
  • University of Oklahoma, Harding Center for Risk Literacy, visiting Edward Cokely, (2017) 
  • Harvard University, Kennedy School, Behavioral Insights Group (2017) 

Awards and Scholarships 

  • Bolyai Research Scholarship – Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2020-2022)  
  • Roska Tamás award (2019) 
  • “Új Nemzeti Kiválóság Program” Scholarship of Hungary (2017-2018) 
  • Campus Mundi Scholarship, Short term program, (2018) 
  • Bial Research Grant – collaborator, (2017-2020) 
  • Fulbright Scholarship (2016-2017) 
  • Eötvös Scholarship of Hungary (2016-2017) 
  • Scholarship of the Rosztóczy Foundation (2016-2017) 
  • Research Scholarship of the Foundation of the Hungarian Central Bank, (2015-2016) 
  • Travel Grant, Eotvos Lorand University (may. 2015, nov. 2015) 
  • International Convention of Psychological Science, Travel Grant, (2015) 
  • Scientific Scholarship of Eotvos Lorand University, (2014, 2015) 
  • Campus Hungary Scholarship, Short term program, (2014, 2018) 
  • Fully funded PhD scholarship, Eotvos Lorand University, (2014-2017) 
  • National Scientific Student Conference, National round, Cognitive psychology, 1st Place (2013) 
  • Scientific Student Conference, Institutional round, Special Award (2013) 
  • National Scientific Student Conference, National round, Applied Psychology, 3rd Place, (2011) 
  • Calazancius Award (2006) 
  • Member of the Hungarian national team of Latin language as a foreign language (2005). 

 

Peer-reviewed Publications 

  1. Aczel, B., Szaszi, B., Sarafoglou, A., Kekecs, Z., Kucharský, Š., Benjamin, D., … & Ioannidis, J. P. (2020). A consensus-based transparency checklist. Nature Human Behaviour, 4(1), 4-6. 
  2. Jachimowicz, M.*, Szaszi, B.* Prabhu, J., Weber, E.U. (2020). Why economic inequality makes the poor even poorer: economic inequality increases the financial hardships for low-income individuals. Nature Human Behaviour, (SHARED FIRST AUTHORSHIP) 
  3. Kekecs, Z., Aczel, B., Palfi, B., Szaszi, B., Szecsi, P., Zrubka, M., … & Grassi, M. (2020). Raising the value of research studies in psychological science by increasing the credibility of research reports: The Transparent Psi Project-Preprint. Accepted for publication in Royal Society Open Science. 
  4. Szaszi, B., Szollosi, A., Palfi, B., & Aczél, B. (2017). The Cognitive Reflection Test Revisited: exploring the ways individuals solve the test. Thinking and Reasoning, 23(3), 207-234. 
  5. Szaszi, B., Palfi, B., Szollosi, A., Kieslich, P. & Aczél, B. (2018). Thinking dynamics and individual differences: mouse-tracking analysis of the denominator task. Judgement and Decision Making, 13(1), 23-32. 
  6. Aczel, B., Palfi, B., Szollosi, A., Kovacs, M., Szaszi, B., Szecsi, P., … & Wagenmakers, E. J. (2018). Quantifying support for the null hypothesis in psychology: An empirical investigation. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 1(3), 357-366. 
  7. Aczél, B., Szollosi, A., Pálfi, B., Szaszi, B., & Kieslich, P. (2017). Is Action Execution Part of the Decision Making Process? An investigation of the Embodied Choice Hypothesis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 44(6), 918-926. 
  8. Szollosi, A., Bago, B., Szaszi, B., & Aczél, B. (2017). Exploring the Determinants of Confidence in the Bat and Ball Problem. Acta Psychologica, 180, 1–7. 
  9. Szollosi, A., Keresztes, A., Novák, B., Szaszi, B., Kéri, Sz., & Racsmány, M. (2017). The Testing Effect is Preserved in Stressful Final Testing Environment. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 31(6), 615-622. 
  10. Dezső, L., Loewenstein, G., Steinhart, J., Neszveda, G., & Szaszi, B. (2015). The pernicious role of asymmetric history in negotiations. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 116, 430-438. 
  11. Szaszi, B., Palinkas, A., Szollosi, A., Palfi, B., & Aczél, B. (2017). A Systematic Scoping Review of Choice Architecture Interventions: towards a better understanding why and when nudges work. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 31(3), 355-366. 
  12. Aczel, B., Palfi, B., Szollosi, A., Kovacs, M., Szaszi, B., Szecsi, P., … & Wagenmakers, E. J. (2018). Quantifying support for the null hypothesis in psychology: An empirical investigation. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 1(3), 357-366 
  13. Aczél, B., Palfi, B., Szaszi, B., (2017). Estimating the evidential Value of Significant Results in Psychological Science. PLOS ONE, 12(8), e0182651. 
  14. Szaszi, B. (2016). The role of expertise and preference behind individuals’ tendency to use intuitive decision style’. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 5(3), 329-330. 
  15. Bouwmeester, S., Verkoeijen, P. P., Aczel, B., Barbosa, F., Bègue, L., Brañas-Garza, P., … & Evans, A. M. (2017). Registered replication report: rand, Greene, and Nowak (2012). Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(3), 527-542. 
  16. Mathur, M. B., Bart-Plange, D. J., Aczel, B., Bernstein, M. H., Ciunci, A., Ebersole, C. R., … & Kellier, D. (2018). Many Labs 5: Registered multisite replication of tempting-fate effects in Risen & Gilovich (2008). Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 
  17. O’Donnell, M., Nelson, L. D., … Szaszi, B.… (2017) Registered Replication Report: Dijksterhuis & van Knippenberg (1998) Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 
  18. Kekecs, Z., Palfi, B., Szollosi, A., Szaszi, B., Dienes, Z., & Aczel, B. (2016). Commentary: Oxytocin-gaze positive loop and the coevolution of human-dog bonds. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 10, 155. 
  19. Aczél, B., Palfi, B., Szaszi, B., Szollosi, A., & Dienes, Z. (2015). Commentary: Unlearning implicit social biases during sleep. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1428. 

Non-peer reviewed publications 

  1. Szaszi, B., Palinkas, A., Palfi, B., Szollosi, A., & Aczel, B. (2017). Annotated bibliography of the Choice Architecture interventions from 2008 to 2016. Annotated bibliography. 
  2. Szaszi, B., Aczél, B., (2019). Metacognitive Nudges In Kádi, A., Kiss, O., Dúll, A. (Ed.), Válogatott tanulmányok Faragó Klára születésnapja tiszteletére. Budapest, Hungary: ELTE. 

Popular Science Activities – Writings, Talks, Podcasts, Interviews,  

    1. Coediting Weekly Nudge, the most popular Behavioral Science Newsletter in Hungary. (2019- )
    2. Risk perception: Christmas and Covid, www. valaszonline.hu  (2020) 
    3. Interview at hvg.hu about consumer behavior (2020)
    4. The Science of Scarcity. European Researchers Night. (2020)
    5. Podcast about Irrational behavior. Kreativ.hu (2020)
    6. Podcast about the Social Dilemma. Association of the Digital Economy.  (2020)
    7. The effects of scarcity on decision making processes. Talk. Creative Mornings. (2020)
    8. Interview about Transparency in Science. Qubit.hu (2020)
    9. The Science of Scarcity. Talk. European Researchers Night. (2019)
    10. The psychology of the perfect gift. www.index.hu (2019)
    11. Interview about Choice architecture. www.g7.hu (2019) 
    12. Interview about Decision Psychology.  www.novekedes.hu (2019).
    13. Interview about Behavioral sciences. Civil Radio. (2018)
    14. Trapped by the social network. Mipszi. (2011)

 

 

 

 

Talks and Posters 

  • Szaszi, B., (2020) Who visits social gatherings during pandemics? (in Hungarian) Conference of the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office, 12. Nov. 2020. 
  • Szaszi, B., Aczel, B., Sarafoglou, A., Kekecs. Z.. Kucharský, S., Wagenmakers, E.J. (2018). A Consensus-Based Transparency Checklist for Social and Behavioral Researchers. Society for Judgment and Decision Making Conference 15-18. Nov 2019. Montreal. (Poster) 
  • Marton, K., Aczel, B., Szecsi, P., Bago, B., Szaszi, B. (2018). Investigating everyday mistakes. Society for Judgment and Decision Making Conference 15-18. Nov 2017. Vancouver. (Talk) 
  • Jachimowicz, M.*, Szaszi, B.,* Prabhu, J., Weber, E.U. (2018). Why economic inequality makes the poor even poorer: economic inequality increases the financial hardships for low-income individuals. SPSP – Social Class and inequality pre-conference. 1-3. Mar. 2018. Atlanta. (Talk) 
  • Szaszi, B.*, Jachimowicz, M.*, Prabhu, J., Weber, E.U. (2018) Why economic inequality makes the poor even poorer: economic inequality increases the financial hardships for low-income individuals. Society for Judgment and Decision Making Conference 18-21. Nov 2017. Vancouver. (Talk) 
  • Aczel, B., Palfi, B., Szaszi, B. (2017). How Much Evidence is in a Significant Result? A Bayes Factor Analysis of 287,424 Psychological Findings. Conference of Psychonomic Society. Vancouver. (Talk) 
  • Szaszi, B., Palfi, B., Kieslich, P., Szollosi, A., Aczel, B. (2017) Thinking dynamics and individual differences: a mouse tracking analysis of the denominator neglect task. Society for Judgment and Decision Making Conference 18-21. Nov 2017. Vancouver (Poster) 
  • Palfi, B., Szaszi, B., Kieslich, P. & Aczel, B. (2017) Tracking changes of mind through mouse movements TeaP. 59th Conference of experimental psychologists. 26-29. March 2017. Dresden. (Talk) 
  • Palinkas, A., Szaszi, B., Palfi, B., Szollosi, A., Zrubka, M., Kovacs, M. & Aczel, B. (2017) Using Nudges: A Scoping Review of Applied Choice Architecture Techniques ICPS 23-25. March 2017. Vienna (Poster) 
  • Szaszi, B., Palinkas, A., Palfi, B., Szollosi, A. & Aczel, B. (2017) A comprehensive review of choice architecture techniques:towards understanding when and why nudges work OK Judgment and Decision Making Conference 8. Apr 2017. Oklahoma. (Poster)
  • Szaszi, B., (2017) Are you done or do you want to think more? Investigating changes of mind in reasoning. Columbia University, Psychology department. Feb 2017. New York. (Invited Talk) 
  • Szaszi, B., (2017) Current directions and methodological concerns of the choice architecture movement. Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health, Columbia University Medical Center, Jan 2017. New York. (Meghívott Talk) 
  • Palfi, B., Szaszi, B., Szollosi, A. & Aczel, B. (2016) The analysis of computer mouse movements can reveal the temporal dynamics of decision evolvement in the Ratio Bias task. TeaP. 58th Conference of experimental psychologists. 21-23. March 2016. Heidelberg. (Talk) 
  • Kovacs, M., Szecsi, P., Palfi, B., Szollosi, A., Szaszi, B., Kiesclich, J. P., Aczel, B. (2016). Investigating embodied choice in the guided movement task. TeaP. 58th Conference of experimental psychologists. 21-23. March 2016. Heidelberg. (Talk) 
  • Aczel, B., & Szaszi, B., (2016). The role of affects in cognitive control in mouse tracking studies. Illyes days 17-18. March 2016. Budapest. (Talk) 
  • Szaszi, B., Palfi, B., Szollosi, A. & Aczel, B. (2015). Investigating The Role of Early Selection Strategies in the Cognitive Reflection Test. Society for Judgment and Decision Making Conference, 20-23. Nov 2015. Chicago. (Poster) 
  • Palfi, B., Szaszi, B., Szollosi, A. & Aczel, B. (2015) Process-tracing in the Ratio Bias paradigm Society for Judgment and Decision Making Conference, 20-23. Nov 2015. Chicago. (Poster) 
  • Szaszi, B., Palfi, B., Szollosi, A. & Aczel, B. (2015). Studying processes underlying CRT. SPUDM 16-20. Aug 2015. Budapest. (Talk) 
  • Szaszi, B., Szollosi, A. & Aczel, B. (2015). Multiple processes underlying decision performance on the Cognitive Reflection Test. London Reasoning Workshop, 3-8. Aug 2015. London. (Talk) 
  • Szaszi, B., Szollosi, A. & Aczel, B. (2015). Studying processes underlying CRT. Contextualized Decision Making Summer School. 9-15. Aug 2015. Mannheim. (Poster) 
  • Szollosi, A., Szaszi, B., & Aczel, B. (2015). Determintans of Confidence in the Bat and the Ball Problem. Dubrovink Conference on Cognitive Science. Metacognition and Reasoning 21-23. May 2015. Dubrovnik. (Talk) 
  • Szaszi, B., Szollosi, A., Palfi, B., & Aczel, B. (2015). “Stick or Switch” Mechanisms in Decision Making: The Moderating Role of Feeling of Rightness in Metacognitive processes. International Convention of Psychological Science. 12-14. March 2015. Amsterdam, The Netherlands. (Poster) 
  • Szollosi, A., Palfi, B., Szaszi, B., Foldes, A., & Aczel, B. (2015). An empirical analysis of logical intuition for Conjunction Fallacy tasks. International Convention of Psychological Science. 12-14. March 2015. Amsterdam, The Netherlands. (Poster) 
  • Szaszi, B., (2013). Testing Effect under Stress. Scientific Student Research Conference. Eger. 
  • Szaszi, B., (2012). Testing Effect under Stress. Scientific Student Conference. Budapest. 
  • Szaszi, B., (2011). In the Jail of the Virtual Network. Mindennapi Pszichológia. 
  • Neszveda , G., Dezso, L. and Szaszi, B. (2010). Proposing a Linear structure of the Cognitive Mechanism Behind Hyperbolic Discounting. Analysis and Generalization of Empirical Studies. In Fetchenhaure, D., Pradel, J., Hoelzl, E. (Eds.) Proceedings of IAREP/SABE/ICABEEP Conference. (p. 145). Cologne, Germany. 
  • Szaszi, B., Dezso L. (2010). Special Patterns of Predicting Future Utility. Behaviorial Economics Workshop, Corvinus University of Budapest. 
  • Szaszi, B., Dezso L. (2010). Special Patterns of Predicting Future Utility in Young Children. (In Hungarian) Student Conference of Pázmány Péter Catholic University (2010) 
  • Szaszi, B., Dezso L. (2010). Predicting Future Utility in Young Children. (In Hungarian) In.: XIX. Summit of the Hungarian Psychological Association, Proceedings. ISBN: 978-963-87915-3-5. 
  • Szaszi, B., Dezso L. and Neszveda, G. (2010). The Opposite Pattern of predicting Future Utility in Younger and Older children. An empirical study on projection bias in children aged 8 to 18. In Fetchenhaure, D., Pradel, J., Hoelzl, E. (Eds.) Proceedings of IAREP/SABE/ICABEEP 2010 Conference. (p. 230). Cologne, Germany. 
  • Szaszi, B., Dezso, L. (2010). Predicting Future Utility in Young Children. Economic Psychological Research Forum. University of Szeged. Doctoral School. 

Organizational Activities  

  • Open Science Workshop, ELTE (2020) 
  • Hands-on Workshop for Mouse-Tracking Research using OpenSesame and R (2016) 
  • VII. Dubrovnik Conference on Cognitive Science on Metacognition and Reasoning (2015) 
  • Subjective Probability, Utility and Decision Making Conference, Budapest, EADM (2015) 

Teaching Activities 

  • Science of Behavior Change (2020 spring) 
  • Statistics (Advanced Statistics course in R, BA), (2015, 2016) 
  • Statistics (Introductory Statistics course in SPSS, BA), (2015, 2016) 
  • Experience and Knowledge Management, (MA), spring (2015)
  • Research Methodology (for psychology students, BA and MA) (2014-2016) 

 

Skills Programming languages: R 

  • Softwares: SPSS, Qualtrics, Eye tracking systems of SMI, Nielsen Answers