Rate My Professor Paul Price

Paul C. Price is a Professor of Psychology in the College of Science and Mathematics at California State University, Fresno, where he has served on the faculty since August 1996. He earned a B.A. from Washington University in 1986, an M.A. from the University of Michigan in 1990, and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1994. Price teaches a variety of courses in the Department of Psychology, including Psych 42 (Introductory Statistics), Psych 144 (Research Methods), Psych 151 (Health Psychology), and Psych 240T (Judgment and Decision Making). His commitment to teaching excellence was recognized with the 2017-2018 Provost's Award for Excellence in Teaching, the university's highest teaching honor. He delivered a presentation in the Provost's Awards Lecture Series and has been highlighted as a Favorite Professor by students. Price also contributes to curriculum development and assessment, having served as a College Assessment Coordinator and participated in critical thinking assessment initiatives.

Price's primary research specializations include judgment and decision making, risk communication and judgment, informal quantitative reasoning, social judgment, forecasting, risk perception, and cognitive psychology. He directs the Judgment and Reasoning Lab and mentors students in competitive programs such as the Fresno State RISE Program and Bridges to Doctorate Program. Under his guidance, students have conducted research on topics like sample size bias, impostor phenomenon, and risk preferences, leading to conference presentations and co-authored manuscripts. His own publications number over 30, with key works including 'Spillover bias in social and nonsocial judgments of diversity and variability' (2023), 'Testing the Effects of a Utility Value Intervention in an Online Research Methods Course' (2022), 'Sample size bias in the estimation of means' (2010), 'A group size effect on personal risk judgments: Implications for unrealistic optimism' (2001), and 'Wishful Thinking in the Prediction of Competitive Outcomes' (2000). Price authored the open-access textbook 'Research Methods in Psychology,' with editions in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019, which has been adapted for use in numerous institutions. His scholarship has accumulated over 1,000 citations, impacting areas of social psychology, decision sciences, and pedagogy.