Susan Joslyn

Image of Susan Joslyn

Susan Joslyn, Ph.D.

Professor
(206) 616-7183
Advising: Not accepting new graduate students in 2025-2026.
Interests: Decision making and communicating uncertainty information
Links:

Research

My main research program concerns decision-making in real world situations. Current work focuses on decisions for which the outcome is uncertain, such as those based on weather forecasts. One of our main research questions is whether people can understand numeric uncertainty estimates. An example is a forecast for 30% chance of winds greater than 20 mph. We have shown that people can understand this and several other kinds of uncertainty information, when it is carefully presented. Moreover such information improves decisions compared to decisions based on conventional deterministic forecasts. We are currently exploring the limits of these effects as well as uncertainty visualizations.

We are also exploring the implications of this work for other domains in which decisions are made under uncertainty (e.g. medical treatment).

Education

University of Washington (1995)

  • Grounds, M. Joslyn, S. & LeClerc, J. (2018) Expressing Flood Likelihood: Return Period versus Probability, Weather Climate and Society 10 (1) doi: 10.1175/WCAS-D-16-0107.1
  • Grounds, M. Joslyn, S. (2018) Communicating Weather Forecast Uncertainty: Do Individual Differences Matter? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 24(1), pp.18-33
  • Losee, J & Joslyn, S (2018) The need to trust: How features of the forecasted weather influence forecast trust. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reductionhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.02.032
  • Grounds, M. Joslyn, S. & Otsuka (2017) Probabilistic Interval Forecasts: An Individual Differences Approach to Understanding Forecast Communication, Advances in Meteorology, Volume 2017 (2017), Article ID 3932565, 18 pages
  • Joslyn, S., & LeClerc, J. (2016). Climate Projections and Uncertainty Communication. Topics in Cognitive Science, 8(1), 222-241.
  • Joslyn, S. & Grounds, M. (2015). The Use of Uncertainty Forecasts in Complex Decision Tasks and Various Weather Conditions,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied Vol 21(4), Dec, 2015. pp. 407-417.
  • LeClerc, J. & Joslyn, S., (2015). The Cry Wolf Effect and Weather-Related Decision Making. Risk Analysis. 35 (3) 385-395. DOI: 10.1111/risa.12336
  • Joslyn, S., & LeClerc, J. (2013). Decisions with Uncertainty: The Glass Half Full. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22 (4) 308
  • Joslyn, S., Nemec, L. & Savelli, S. (2013). The benefits and challenges of predictive interval forecasts and verification graphics for end-users. Weather, Climate & Society. e-View doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/WCAS-D-12-00007.1
  • Savelli, S. & Joslyn, S., (2013). The Advantages of 80% Predictive Interval Forecasts for Non-Experts and the Impact of Visualizations. Applied Cognitive Psychology. . wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/acp.2932
  • LeClerc, J. & Joslyn, S., (2012). Odds ratio forecasts increase precautionary action in severe weather events. Weather, Climate & Society. Weather, Climate & Society, 4, 263–270.
  • Savelli, S. & Joslyn, S., (2012). Boater safety: Communicating weather forecast information to high stakes end users. Weather, Climate & Society. 4, 7–19
  • Joslyn, S., & LeClerc, J. (2011). Uncertainty forecasts improve weather-related decisions and attenuate the effects of forecast error. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. 18(1):126-40.
  • Joslyn, S., & Savelli, S., & Nadav-Greenberg, L., (2011). Reducing probabilistic weather forecasts to the worst-case scenario: Anchoring effects. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. 17(4):342-53.
  • Joslyn, S. & Savelli, S. (2010). Communicating forecast uncertainty: Public perception of weather forecast uncertainty. Meteorological Applications. 17, 180-195
  • Joslyn, S.L. & Nichols, R.M. (2009). Probability or frequency? Expressing forecast uncertainty in public weather forecasts. Meteorological Applications, 90, 185-19.
  • Nadav-Greenberg, L., & Joslyn, S. (2009). Uncertainty forecasts improve decision-making among non-experts, Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making, 2 (1), 24-47.
  • Joslyn, S. & Jones, D. (2008) Strategies in Naturalistic Decision-making: A Cognitive Task Analysis of Naval Weather Forecasting.In J.M. Schraagen (Ed) In J.M. Schraagen, S. (Ed) Naturalistic Decision Making and Macrocognition. Ashgate Publishing 183-201
  • Joslyn, S., Nadav-Greenberg, L. & Nichols, R. M. (2009). Probability of precipitation: Assessment and enhancement of end-user understanding. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 90(2)
  • Joslyn, S., Nadav-Greenberg, L., & Taing, M. U. (2008). The Effects of wording on the understanding and use of uncertainty information in a threshold forecasting decision. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23 (1), 55-72.
  • Nadav-Greenberg, L., Joslyn, S., & Taing, M. U., (2008) The effect of weather forecast uncertainty visualization on decision-making. Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making.2 (1)24-47
  • Joslyn, S., Pak, K., Jones, D. Pyles, J. & Hunt, E., (2007) The Effect of Probabilistic Information on Threshold Forecasts. Weather & Forecasting 22 (4) 804_812
  • Joslyn, S. L., I Oakes, M. A. (2005) Directed Forgetting and Autobiographical Events Memory and Cognition 33(4), 577-587.
  • Joslyn, S. L., Loftus, E. F., McNoughton, A. & Powers, J. (2001). Memory for Memory. Memory & Cognition 29 . 789-797.
  • Joslyn, S. L., Carlin, L. & Loftus E. F. (1998). Remembering and forgetting childhood sexual abuse, Memory 5, 701-724.
  • Joslyn, S. L., Hunt, E. (1998). Evaluating individual differences in response to emergency situations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 4, 16-43.