Anthony R. Pratkanis is currently Professor of Psychology at the University of California where he studies social influence and persuasion. He is the co-author of Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion and of Weapons of Fraud. His research program has investigated such topics as the delayed effects of persuasion, attitudes and memory, groupthink, affirmative action, subliminal persuasion, mass communications, source credibility, fraud, persuasion and democracy, and a variety of influence tactics such as the pique technique, phantoms, the projection tactic, the 1-in-5 prize tactic, and altercasting.

Dr. Pratkanis’s expertise is sought by both public and private enterprises. His testimony on subliminal persuasion at the trial of CBS Records/Judas Priest was instrumental in winning that case for the defense. He has served as an expert witness in a number of trials including State of Oregon v. Publishers Clearing House, State of Vermont v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and Eclipse cigarettes, State of Washington v. 5-Hour Energy, Federal Trade Commission v. DirecTV, among other cases. He has testified before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about his research with AARP and FINRA, which has developed effective interventions for reducing victimization by fraud criminals. Dr. Pratkanis has also consulted with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on how to avoid groupthink in intelligence estimates and continues to work with the United States military on the use of social influence in international conflicts. He is a frequent speaker and lecturer on the topic of social influence and persuasion.

A fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, American Psychological Association, and Association for Psychological Science, he is also an Inner Circle Magic Garage Magician and a Magician Extraordinaire of Ring 216 as well as a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and of the Society of American Magicians.

Further information may be found on this Wikipedia page.