Anthony R. Pratkanis

Anthony R. Pratkanis is a researcher, author, consultant, media commentator, and professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is the author of several books and has published research papers in scientific journals on the topics of social influence, fraud, terrorist and dictator propaganda, marketing and consumer behavior, and subliminal persuasion.

Pratkanis has been a consultant for civic groups, government agencies, regulatory organizations, law enforcement, and the United States Military. He has given expert testimony in many trials and is often cited in the mainstream news media. In 2004 Pratkanis received an excellence in teaching award and was named the most revered professor by the psychology class of 2005. 

Pratkanis was born on April 2, 1957, in Portsmouth, Virginia. In 1979 Pratkanis graduated from Eastern Mennonite College with a Bachelor of Science in psychology, sociology, and social work. Following that, he went to Ohio State University and earned his Master of Science and Ph.D. in 1984. Pratkanis interests are applied social psychology; attitudes and beliefs; communication, language; group processes; intergroup relations; persuasion, social influence; prejudice, and stereotyping. Pratkanis is married to Marlene Turner Pratkanis and they have a son, Tony Turner Pratkanis.

As well as being the co-author of a number of scientific papers and editor of journals, Pratkanis is the co-author or editor of 6 books. He is best known for the best-selling books Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion, co-authored with Elliott Aronson, which has been translated into Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish; and Weapons of Fraud: A Source Book For Fraud Fighters, co-written with AARP state director Doug Shadel, which accompanies the award-winning AARP video of the same name.

Pratkanis is an amateur magician and a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and the Society of American Magicians. He uses magic tricks such as cold reading and levitation in his course, The Social Psychology of Flim Flam, as an effective way to teach critical thinking, proving to his students that even their college professor can fool them.