Maya Bar-Hillel

Maya Bar-Hillel
מיה בר-הלל
Born1943 (age 81–82)
Academic background
Alma materHebrew University of Jerusalem (PhD)
ThesisThe Base-Rate Fallacy in Subjective Judgments of Probability (1975)
Academic work
DisciplinePsychologist
Sub-discipline
InstitutionsHebrew University of Jerusalem

Maya Bar-Hillel (Hebrew: מיה בר-הלל, born 1943)[1] is a professor emeritus of psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.[2] Known for her work on inaccuracies in human reasoning about probability,[3][4][5] she has also studied decision theory in connection with Newcomb's paradox,[6] investigated how gender stereotyping can block human problem-solving,[7] and worked with Dror Bar-Natan, Gil Kalai, and Brendan McKay to debunk the Bible code.[8]

Education and career

Bar-Hillel studied psychology with Amos Tversky at the Hebrew University, where she earned bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics and a Ph.D. in psychology.[9] Her 1975 doctoral dissertation, The Base-Rate Fallacy in Subjective Judgments of Probability, introduced the concept of the base rate fallacy in probabilistic reasoning.[10] At the Hebrew University, she was the director of the Center for the Study of Rationality from 2001 to 2005.[9]

Family

Bar-Hillel is the daughter of Israeli philosopher and linguist Yehoshua Bar-Hillel. Her daughter, Gili Bar-Hillel, is the Hebrew translator of the Harry Potter books.[11]

Recognition

Bar-Hillel won the Rothschild Prize for Psychology in 2018, and the George Pólya Award of the Mathematical Association of America with Ruma Falk in 1984 for their joint work on probability.[12]

References

  1. ^ Birth year from VIAF authority control record, retrieved 2019-09-14
  2. ^ Prof. Emeritus Maya Bar-Hillel, Psychology Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, retrieved 2019-09-14
  3. ^ Robb, Alice (January 27, 2014), "The Science of Explaining Heads or Tails: Psychologists know which one you'll call", The New Republic
  4. ^ Hastie, Reid; Dawes, Robyn M. (2001), Rational Choice in an Uncertain World: The Psychology of Judgement and Decision Making, SAGE, p. 192, ISBN 9780761922759
  5. ^ Achinstein, Peter (January 1981), "On Evidence: A Reply to Bar-Hillel and Margalit", Mind, New Series, 90 (357): 108–112, doi:10.1093/mind/XC.357.108, JSTOR 2253668
  6. ^ Gardner, Martin (July 1973), "Free will revisited, with a mind-bending prediction paradox by William Newcomb", Mathematical Games, Scientific American, 229 (1): 104–109, doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0773-104, JSTOR 24923152
  7. ^ Frederick, Shane (January 29, 2019), "What Riddles Teach Us about the Human Mind", Yale Insights
  8. ^ Devlin, Keith (June 1998), "The Bible Code That Wasn't", Devlin's Angle, Mathematical Association of America
  9. ^ a b "About the speaker", Keyfitz Lecture in Mathematics and the Social Sciences, The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences, March 31, 2009, retrieved 2019-09-14
  10. ^ Tversky, Amos; Kahneman, Daniel (1977), "Causal thinking in judgment under uncertainty", in Butts, R. E.; Hintikka, J. (eds.), Basic Problems in Methodology and Linguistics, The University of Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science, vol. 11, Springer, pp. 167–190, doi:10.1007/978-94-017-0837-1_11
  11. ^ Bar-Natan, Dror (March 2009), "Maya Bar-Hillel" (PDF), Academic Pensieve
  12. ^ "Probabilistic Dependence between Events", Writing Awards, Mathematical Association of America, retrieved 2021-05-23
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