Gordon Robert Pennycook is a Canadian psychologist who is an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. He is also an adjunct

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of Behavioural Science at the

University of Regina The University of Regina is a public university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the University of Saskatchewan as a j ...

's Hill and Levene Schools of Business. In 2020, he was elected to be a member of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

’s College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists.

Early life and education

Pennycook grew up in

Carrot River, Saskatchewan Carrot River is a town located in east-central Saskatchewan (population: 1000) in Canada. The administration office for the Rural Municipality of Moose Range No. 486 is located in Carrot River. History The name Carrot River comes from th ...

, Canada. He earned his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree at the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

before enrolling at the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

for his

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

and PhD. At the University of Waterloo, Pennycook co-authored ''On the Reception and Detection of Pseudo-Profound Bullshit'' which won the 2016 Ig Nobel Peace Prize. Upon graduating, he received the Governor General's Gold Medal for outstanding scholastic achievements of a student in Canada and accepted a

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC; , CRSH), often colloquially pronounced 'shirk' (), is a Canadian federal research-funding agency that promotes and supports post-secondary research and training in the humani ...

Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. As a Postdoctoral Fellowship, Pennycook became interested in

fake news Fake news or information disorder is false or misleading information (misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, and hoaxes) claiming the aesthetics and legitimacy of news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person ...

and conducted studies on people sharing misinformation on social media.

Career

Following his Postdoctoral Fellowship, Pennycook became an

assistant professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...

of Behavioural Science at the

's Hill and Levene Schools of Business. In 2018, he received a research grant from the Miami Foundation to examine why people fall for fake and hyperpartisan news. He also edited a book, ''The New Reflectionism in Cognitive Psychology: Why Reason Matters'' and authored five book chapters. As a result of his academic achievements, Pennycook received the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science (CSBBCS) Vincent Di Lollo Early Career Award. Later that year, Pennycook was named a member of the

’s College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pennycook, Gordon Living people 21st-century Canadian psychologists Academics from Saskatchewan Academic staff of the University of Regina Ig Nobel laureates University of Saskatchewan alumni University of Waterloo alumni Year of birth missing (living people)