Emily Falk

Emily Falk
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Brown University UCLA
Scientific career
Fields	Psychology Neuroscience Communication science
Institutions	University of Pennsylvania (2013-present) University of Michigan (2010-2013)
Doctoral advisor	Matthew Lieberman
Website	www.falklab.org

Emily B. Falk is an American psychologist and neuroscientist, and professor of communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, ^[1] holding secondary appointments in psychology ^[2] and marketing. ^[3] She is the author of the 2025 book What We Value: The Neuroscience of Choice and Change. ^[4]

Biography

Falk received a Sc.B. in neuroscience from Brown University, an M.A. in psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles. ^[5] Falk was an assistant professor of communication at the University of Michigan and a faculty associate of the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, ^[6] before her appointment at the University of Pennsylvania.

Research

Falk directs the Communication Neuroscience Lab, a research laboratory that takes an interdisciplinary communication neuroscience approach to link neural activity to individual, group, and population behaviors. ^[7] Specific research lines include predicting behavior change (including changes in sunscreen use, ^[8] tobacco smoking, ^{[9] [10]} and sedentary behavior ^[11] ) following exposure to persuasive messages. Another line of research links neural responses to health messages to population level behavioral outcomes. ^{[12] [13]}

Her most cited peer-reviewed research articles are:

• Bayer, J. B., Ellison, N. B., Schoenebeck, S. Y., & Falk, E. B. (2016). Sharing the small moments: Ephemeral social interaction on Snapchat. Information, Communication & Society, 19(7), 956–977. ^[14] Cited by 426 as of April 2021. ^[15]
• Falk, E. B., Berkman, E. T., Mann, T., Harrison, B., & Lieberman, M. D. (2010). Predicting persuasion-induced behavior change from the brain. Journal of Neuroscience, 30(25), 8421–8424. ^[16] Cited by 326 as of April 2021. ^[17]
• Falk, E. B., Berkman, E. T., & Lieberman, M. D. (2012). From neural responses to population behavior: Neural focus group predicts population-level media effects. Psychological Science, 23(5), 439–445. ^[18] Cited by 286 as of April 2021. ^[19]

Awards and distinctions

Falk has received many awards for her work, including the 2012 National Institutes of Health Director's New Innovator Award, ^{[20] [21]} the 2017 International Communication Association (ICA) Early Career Scholar Award (then known as the Young Scholar Award), ^[22] and the 2020 Social & Affective Neuroscience Society (SANS) Early Career Award. ^[23]

References

1. "Emily Falk, Ph.D. | Annenberg School for Communication". www.asc.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2019-08-10.
2. "Emily Falk | Psychology". psychology.sas.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2019-08-10.
3. "Emily Falk". Marketing Department. Retrieved 2019-08-10.
4. "What We Value". wwnorton.com. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
5. "Emily Falk". www.scn.ucla.edu. Retrieved 2019-08-10.
6. "Emily Falk receives NIH Director's New Innovator Award" . Retrieved 2020-10-02.
7. "Research – Communication Neuroscience Lab" . Retrieved 2019-08-10.
8. Falk, Emily B.; Berkman, Elliot T.; Mann, Traci; Harrison, Brittany; Lieberman, Matthew D. (2010-06-23). "Predicting persuasion-induced behavior change from the brain". The Journal of Neuroscience. 30 (25): 8421–8424. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0063-10.2010. ISSN   0270-6474. PMC   3027351 . PMID   20573889.
9. Cooper, Nicole; Tompson, Steven; O'Donnell, Matthew B.; Vettel, Jean M.; Bassett, Danielle S.; Falk, Emily B. (April 2018). "Associations between coherent neural activity in the brain's value system during antfgooismoking messages and reductions in smoking". Health Psychology. 37 (4): 375–384. doi:10.1037/hea0000574. ISSN   1930-7810. PMC   5880700 . PMID   29446965.
10. Cooper, Nicole; Tompson, Steve; O'Donnell, Matthew Brook; Falk, Emily B. (2015). "Brain Activity in Self- and Value-Related Regions in Response to Online Antismoking Messages Predicts Behavior Change". Journal of Media Psychology. 27 (3): 93–109. doi:10.1027/1864-1105/a000146. ISSN   1864-1105. PMC   5650074 . PMID   29057013.
11. Strecher, Victor J.; Resnicow, Kenneth; An, Lawrence; Taylor, Shelley E.; Lieberman, Matthew D.; Kang, Yoona; Tinney, Francis; Cascio, Christopher N.; O’Donnell, Matthew Brook (2015-02-17). "Self-affirmation alters the brain's response to health messages and subsequent behavior change". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 112 (7): 1977–1982. Bibcode:2015PNAS..112.1977F. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1500247112 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   4343089 . PMID   25646442.
12. "Neuroimaging predicts influence of anti-smoking media campaign". News-Medical.net. 2019-01-09. Retrieved 2019-08-10.
13. "Brain scans predict best anti-smoking images". Futurity. 2015-10-30. Retrieved 2019-08-10.
14. Bayer, Joseph B.; Ellison, Nicole B.; Schoenebeck, Sarita Y.; Falk, Emily B. (2016-07-02). "Sharing the small moments: Ephemeral social interaction on Snapchat". Information, Communication & Society. 19 (7): 956–977. doi:10.1080/1369118X.2015.1084349. ISSN   1369-118X. S2CID   143325476.
15. "Sharing the small moments: Ephemeral social interaction on Snapchat - Emily B. Falk - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
16. Falk, Emily B.; Berkman, Elliot T.; Mann, Traci; Harrison, Brittany; Lieberman, Matthew D. (2010-06-23). "Predicting persuasion-induced behavior change from the brain". The Journal of Neuroscience. 30 (25): 8421–8424. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0063-10.2010. ISSN   0270-6474. PMC   3027351 . PMID   20573889.
17. "Predicting persuasion-induced behavior change from the brain - Emily B. Falk - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
18. Falk, Emily B.; Berkman, Elliot T.; Lieberman, Matthew D. (2012-05-01). "From neural responses to population behavior: Neural focus group predicts population-level media effects". Psychological Science. 23 (5): 439–445. doi:10.1177/0956797611434964. ISSN   0956-7976. PMC   3725133 . PMID   22510393.
19. "From neural responses to population behavior: Neural focus group predicts population-level media effects - Emily B. Falk - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
20. "NIH Director's New Innovator Award Recipients: 2012 Awardees". National Institutes of Health. 18 September 2018. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
21. "DARPA YFA Class of 2015" (PDF). Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
22. "ICA Early Career Scholar Award". International Communication Association. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
23. "SANS Awards". Social Affective Neuroscience Society. Retrieved 2020-01-07.

External links

• Emily Falk publications indexed by Google Scholar