Self-Assessment and the Willingness to Get Vaccinated: Study Successfully Published in PNAS

Dr. Helen Fischer, a member of the Perception and Action lab, has published a study on metacognition in one of the most prestigious interdisciplinary journals, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The highly cited journal has an impact factor of 13 and accepted only 15.6% of the articles submitted in 2021.

In the study, the cognitive psychologist showed that people's willingness to be vaccinated is significantly influenced by their own assessment of what they know. Helen Fischer conducted this research in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. She explains: "We found that people were more willing to get vaccinated if they could accurately assess their own knowledge of the Covid-19 vaccine. Interestingly, this self-assessment proved to be a better predictor of vaccine uptake than participants' general knowledge of Covid."

Helen Fischer's research is part of a series of studies at the IWM focusing on metacognition. These studies highlight the importance of accurately assessing one's own knowledge as a crucial skill to cultivate, as it enables individuals to make informed decisions.