Rolf Reber is known for his research on processing fluency, especially the processing fluency theory of aesthetic pleasure he developed together with Norbert Schwarz from the University of Michigan and Piotr Winkielman from the University of California at San Diego.

In addition, the research found that processing fluency influences both affect[2] and the judged truth of statements,[3] suggesting that ease of processing is a common underlying experience in both perceived beauty and judged truth.

[5][6] The processing fluency theory of aesthetic pleasure has influenced work in psychology,[7][8][9] philosophy,[10] marketing,[11][12] and finance.

[14] More recently, Rolf Reber and his collaborators have developed and explored Example Choice, an instructional technique designed to increase relevance and student interest in learning abstract principles in mathematics and science.

[15] Rolf Reber is the author of the book Critical Feeling that introduces the concept of critical feeling which extends the notion of critical thinking[16] and two popular science books in German, among them Kleine Psychologie des Alltäglichen (A brief psychology of everyday life) which has been translated into Norwegian, Korean and Chinese.