Mark R. Lepper (born December 5, 1944) is a professor of
psychologyPsychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the systematic, and sometimes scientific, study of human or animal mental functions and behavior...
at
Stanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university located in Stanford, California, United States...
, who has studied
attribution theoryAttribution theory is a social psychology theory developed by Fritz Heider, Harold Kelley, Edward E. Jones, and Lee Ross.The theory is concerned with the ways in which people explain the behavior of others or themselves with something else...
and
confirmation biasConfirmation bias is an irrational tendency to search for, interpret or remember information in a way that confirms preconceptions or working hypotheses. It is a type of cognitive bias and a systematic error of inductive reasoning...
.
Mark R. Lepper (born December 5, 1944) is a professor of
psychologyPsychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the systematic, and sometimes scientific, study of human or animal mental functions and behavior...
at
Stanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university located in Stanford, California, United States...
, who has studied
attribution theoryAttribution theory is a social psychology theory developed by Fritz Heider, Harold Kelley, Edward E. Jones, and Lee Ross.The theory is concerned with the ways in which people explain the behavior of others or themselves with something else...
and
confirmation biasConfirmation bias is an irrational tendency to search for, interpret or remember information in a way that confirms preconceptions or working hypotheses. It is a type of cognitive bias and a systematic error of inductive reasoning...
.
With frequent collaborator
Lee RossLee D. Ross is a professor of social psychology at Stanford University, who has studied attribution theory, attributional biases, decision making and conflict resolution. Studying with Stanley Schachter, he earned his Ph.D...
, and Robert Vallone, he authored the first study to identify the
hostile media effectThe hostile media effect, sometimes called the hostile media phenomenon, refers to the finding that people with strong biases toward an issue perceive media coverage as biased against their opinions...
. With Ross and Charles Lord he also authored an important study on
attitude changeBreckler and Wiggins define attitudes as “mental and neural representations, organized through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence on behavior” . Attitudes and attitude objects are functions of cognitive, affective and conative components...
and what is now called disconfirmation bias. With Lord he later theorized attitude representation theory. He has also worked with
Thomas GilovichThomas D. Gilovich is a professor of psychology at Cornell University who has researched decision making and behavioral economics and has written popular books on said subjects. He has collaborated with Daniel Kahneman, Lee Ross and Amos Tversky....
and
Merrill CarlsmithJ. Merrill Carlsmith was an American social psychologist perhaps best known for his collaboration with Leon Festinger in the creation of cognitive dissonance theory. He also worked extensively with Mark Lepper on the subject of attribution theory....
.
Lepper earned his
Ph.D.Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated PhD , for the Latin , meaning "teacher of philosophy", or alternatively, DPhil, for the equivalent , is an advanced academic degree awarded by universities...
in
SocialSocial psychology is a type of social science that is concerned with individuals' thoughts, feelings and behavior as they affect or are affected by other individuals...
and
Developmental PsychologyDevelopmental psychology, also known as human development, is the scientific study of systematic psychological changes that occur in human beings over the course of the life span. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence and adult development,...
at
Yale UniversityYale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Yale has produced many notable alumni, including five...
in 1970.