Department Highlights
Professor Bob Knight

Congratulations to Bob Knight who has been awarded the 2024 American Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions

Bob Knight will receive the 2024 Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions from the American Psychological Association (APA).

Robert W. Levenson Ph.D

Faculty Lecture: Robert W. Levenson - Moments in Time

Distinguished Faculty Lecture: "Moments in time: Brief biobehavioral building blocks for health and social bonding"

Presented by the UC Berkeley Department of Psychology on Wednesday, October 11, 2023.

Speaker: Robert W. Levenson Ph.D, Professor of Psychology...

Advancing Computational Psychology: An Visual Interview with Bill Thompson

How do humans pass on complex concepts and knowledge to subsequent generations? In his research, UC Berkeley cognitive scientist Bill Thompson uses computational methods and large-scale experiments to understand problems like knowledge transmission, the universality of language categories, and...

Congratulations to Alison Gopnik for receiving the Rumelhart Prize in Cognitive Science

UC Berkeley psychologist Alison Gopnik has won the coveted Rumelhart Prize in Cognitive Science. She’ll receive the prize in 2024.

Congratulations to Bob Knight on Receiving an Honorary Doctorate from Hebrew University of Jerusalem!

Please join me in congratulating Bob Knight who has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Remembering Mary Main

With sadness, we want to let you know that our cherished colleague, Professor Emerita Mary Main, passed away peacefully at her home on January 6, 2023, just short of her 80th birthday, after a courageous battle with a long illness.

Congratulations to Jason Okonofua on being named an APS Fellow

Fellow status is awarded to APS members who have made sustained outstanding contributions to the science of psychology in the areas of research, teaching, service, and/or application. Fellow status is typically awarded for one’s scientific contributions, but may also be awarded for exceptional...

Congratulations to Sheri Johnson, Rudy Mendoza-Denton, and Joni Wallis on their election as 2022 AAAS Fellows!

Eleven UC Berkeley faculty members have been elected lifetime fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.

 

The new members, among 508 total 2022 AAAS fellows, bring...

Congratulations to Stephen Hinshaw for receiving the 2023 APS Mentor Award

The APS Mentor Award recognizes psychology researchers and educators who have shaped the future directions of science by fostering the careers of students and colleagues.

Congratulations to Bill Thompson for receiving NOMIS & Science Magazine Young Explorer Award

Through the NOMIS & Science Young Explorer Award, the editors of Science and NOMIS wish to recognize bold young researchers who ask fundamental questions at the intersection of the life and social sciences; scientists who have performed interdisciplinary work with an enthusiasm that has...

Congratulations to Mark D'Esposito for receiving the 2023 Fred Kavli Distinguished Career Contributions Award

The Fred Kavli Distinguished Career Contributions Award (DCC) was established in 2012 and it is sponsored by the Fred Kavli Foundation from 2019-2023. This award honors senior cognitive neuroscientists for their sustained and distinguished career, including outstanding scientific contributions,...

UC Berkeley Psychology Staff Appreciation Luncheon

To express our appreciation for the amazing staff in our department, we gathered for an outdoor lunch on Friday, October 28, 2022 that was topped off with sugary and pillowy beignets!

Congratulations to Arianne Eason for receiving the 2022 Sage Emerging Scholars Award, awarded by SPSP in collaboration with SAGE Publications

This award recognizes outstanding achievements by early career PhD scholars (between 0 and 3 years Post-PhD) in social and personality psychology, including contributions to teaching, research, or service to the field.

 

...

Congratulations to Ozlem Ayduk for receiving the Carol and Ed Diener Award in Personality Psychology

First given in 2007, the Carol and Ed Diener Award in Personality Psychology is designed to recognize a mid-career scholar (approximately 15-25 years from their first tenure-track appointment) whose work has added substantially to the body of knowledge to the personality field and/or brings...

Congratulations to Jason Okonofua and his collaborators for receiving the 2022 SINGLE CONTRIBUTION CIALDINI PRIZE from SPSP (Society for Personality and Social Psychology).

Started in 2008, the Robert B. Cialdini Prize recognizes the author(s) of a publication that uses field methods and demonstrates relevance to outside groups. It is designed to recognize the publication that best explicates social psychological phenomena principally through the use of field...

Knight and Scabini make $500K bequest to support Berkeley Neuroscience and Psychology graduate students

Robert Knight, a UC Berkeley professor of psychology and member of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute (HWNI), and his wife Donatella Scabini have Robert Knight and Donatella Scabini announced that they will bequeath half a million dollars to the Berkeley Psychology Department and HWNI to support graduate students.

Congratulations to Jan Engelmann for receiving an Award from the Society of Hellman Fellows

The Society of Hellman Fellows is an endowed program at all ten University of California campuses that provides research funding to promising assistant professors who show capacity for great distinction in their chosen fields. The program began in 1995 at UC Berkeley and UC San Diego and has...

Congratulations to Manon Ironside for receiving 2022 Teaching Effectiveness Award For GSIs

The Teaching Effectiveness Award for GSIs honors a small number of GSIs who devise solutions to teaching or learning problems they have identified in their classes and write them up in a one-page essay.

Congratulations to Richard Ivry for his induction to the American Academy of Arts and Science

As many know the Academy is both an honorary society that recognizes and celebrates the excellence of its members and an independent research center convening leaders from across disciplines, professions, and perspectives to address significant challenges.

 

It was founded in 1780...

UC Berkeley Psychology Earth Day Celebration

In celebration of Earth Day, on Friday, April 22, 2022 a group of Psychology Department members came together for a beach clean-up and happy hour gathering.

Congratulations to Hari Srinivasan for receiving Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans

The 2022 Class of Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows is made up of 30 outstanding immigrants and children of immigrants from all over the country and world who are pursuing graduate school here in the United States. Selected from more than 1,800 applicants, each of the recipients was chosen for their potential to make significant contributions to the United States and will receive up to $90,000 in funding over two years.

Berkeley Talks: Mapping the brain to understand health, aging and disease

In episode 136 of Berkeley Talks, UC Berkeley psychology professor Jack Gallant discusses functional brain mapping for understanding health, aging and disease.

Congratulations to Jason Okonofua for receiving 2020-21 Foundations for Change: Thomas I. Yamashita Prize

The FOUNDATIONS FOR CHANGE: Thomas I. Yamashita Prize is awarded annually to an outstanding emerging social change activist/scholar in California.  The award was established in honor of Thomas I. Yamashita.

Congratulations to Jason Okonofua for receiving 2022 APS Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions

The APS Janet Taylor Spence Award recognizes APS members who have made transformative early career contributions to psychological science.

Congratulations to Steve Piantadosi for receiving 2022 Early Investigator Award from the Society of Experimental Psychologists

The Early Investigator Award is given to individuals who early in their careers have already made significant contributions to experimental psychology.

Congratulations to Nancy Liu and Erika Roach

Dr. Nancy Liu has received a 2021 Walfish Award from the American Psychological Foundation for her primary role on "A framework for culturally humble therapeutic responses using the deliberate practice multicultural orientation video prompts."

Graduate student Erika Roach has received the 2021 Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology (SSCP). Outstanding Student Teacher Award.

Congratulations to Ann Kring for her election to AAAS!

Kring is recognized for distinguished contributions to the field of psychology and affective science, particularly for improving the understanding of anhedonia or distortions of affect in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Congratulations to Serena Chen for receiving 2022 APS Mentor Award

The first Asian American chair of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, Serena Chen mentors through her amazing work in several domains as well as her collaborations with her students and colleagues, including junior faculty members.

Congratulations to Christine Mullarkey and Jennifer Ochoa on their receipt of a 2020 and 2021 Advising and Student Services Award

"The dynamic duo of Christine and Jennifer has saved the Psychology department thousands of dollars over the next years through their innovative rethinking of the major admission process. While the department stands to save money for no longer licensing database software, our students gain much...

Ph.D. alumnus of our department, Joshua Miele, named a 2021 MacArthur Fellow

Developing devices to enable blind and visually impaired people to access everyday technologies and digital information.

Congratulations to Christina Maslach for having made Business Insider's annual list of 100 people

Insider’s most prestigious list profiles 100 business leaders across 10 distinct sectors who are innovating, sparking trends, and tackling global challenges.

Remembering Lynn Robertson

With grief and sadness, we share the news that our friend and colleague, Lynn Robertson, passed away on Monday, October 4, 2021.

Congratulations to Sheldon Zedeck for receiving the Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education (AROHE) 2021 Distinguished Service Award

He is being recognized for a multitude of contributions, including his role in the development of the Emeriti Academy, his efforts in developing the Couples Project, contributions to Berkeley’s pre-retirement planning program, and extensive work on the Legacy Project.

 

AROHE,...

Word gap: When money’s tight, parents talk less to kids

Three decades ago, child development researchers found that low-income children heard tens of millions of fewer words in their homes than their more affluent peers by the time they reached kindergarten. This “word gap” was and continues to be linked to a socioeconomic disparity in academic achievement.

Psychology Part III: A Social History of Female Faculty at Berkeley

October 3, 2020 marked the 150th anniversary of the University of California Regents’ unanimous approval of a resolution in 1870 by Regent Samuel F. Butterworth: “That young ladies be admitted into the University on equal terms in all respects with young men.” The first women were admitted as students to Berkeley in 1872, four years after the university’s opening in 1868. In celebration of 150 Years of Women at Berkeley, a website was created to showcase essays, interviews, and talks from across the campus, demonstrating the breadth and depth of women’s contributions to Berkeley, their fields, and to the larger world. These materials will be housed in the UC Berkeley Library’s Digital Collections.

Congratulations to Sheldon Zedeck, who has been named the 2021 chairholder of the Edward A. Dickson Emeriti Professorship

Edward A. Dickson served as a Regent of the University of California from 1913 to 1946, the longest tenure of any Regent. In 1955, Mr. Dickson presented the University with a gift endowment which enables each campus to make an annual $10,000 award recognizing teaching, research, or public...

Honoring Chair Serena Chen

Cindy Ji interviews Chair Serena Chen about her life journey into Psychology. The article called "Turning Difference into a Catalyst" honors the history of  Asian American Women on the Berkeley campus, as part of the 150 years of Women celebration.

Congratulations to Ozlem Ayduk for receiving 2020 Social Sciences Distinguished Teaching Awards

The Dean and Chairs of the Division of Social Sciences initiated the Distinguished Teaching Award to encourage and reward faculty members who have been exceptionally generous and effective in both undergraduate and graduate teaching. The Distinguished Service Award recognizes a faculty member...

Congratulations to Steve Hinshaw for his election to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences!

Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences honors excellence and convenes leaders from every field of human endeavor to examine new ideas, address issues of importance to the nation and the world, and work together, as expressed in our charter, “to cultivate every art and science...

Congratulations to Jan Engelmann for being designated as a rising star by APS

The APS Rising Star designation is presented to outstanding APS members in the earliest stages of their research career post-PhD. Drawing its name from an Observer editorial series that featured exemplars of the exciting work being done by the field’s newest researchers, this designation...

Congratulation to Allison Harvey for receiving 2021 Distinguished Scientist Award

The Distinguished Scientist Award is the Sleep Research Society’s highest award and recognizes significant, original and sustained scientific contributions of a basic, translational, clinical or theoretical nature to the sleep and circadian research field.

Congratulations to Celeste Kidd for receiving the APS's 2021 Janet Taylor Spence Award

This award is given in recognition of APS members who have made transformative early-career contributions to psychological science.

Congratulations to Anne Collins for receiving the 2021 Cognitive Neuroscience Society Young Investigator Award!

The purpose of the Young Investigator Award is to recognize outstanding contributions by scientists early in their career.

Congratulations to Alison Gopnik for receiving APS's 2021 James McKeen Cattell award!

This award recognizes APS members for a lifetime of outstanding contributions to the area of applied psychological research. Recipients must be APS members whose research addresses a critical problem in society at large.

 

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Remembering Art Shimamura

With sadness, we share the news of the passing of Art Shimamura at his home in Kailua, Hawaii, on October 6, 2020.

Congratulations to Iris Mauss for receiving 2020 Carol and Ed Diener Award in Personality Psychology

The Carol and Ed Diener Award in Personality Psychology is designed to recognize a mid-career scholar whose work has added substantially to the body of knowledge to the personality psychology field and/or brings together personality psychology and social psychology.

 

...

Congratulations to Stephen Hinshaw for receiving 2020 Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health

The Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health is presented annually by the National Academy of Medicine. Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat established the award in 1992 out of a commitment to improving the science base and delivery of mental health services. This international award...

Berkeley neuroscientists probe new frontiers in their quest to understand brain function; as featured in the New York Times

Jack Gallant never set out to create a mind-reading machine. His focus was more prosaic. A computational neuroscientist at the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Gallant worked for years to improve our understanding of how brains encode information — what regions become active, for example...

Psychology Part II: Our Female Ph.D. Graduates at Berkeley

Throughout 2020, the Psychology Department is joining the campus in celebrating 150 Years of Women at Berkeley. October 3, 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the UC Regents’ unanimous approval in 1870 of a resolution by Regent Samuel F. Butterworth: “That young ladies be admitted into the University on equal terms in all respects with young men.” The first women were admitted as students to the university in 1872, four years after its opening in 1868.

Stephen Glickman, father of world’s only captive hyena colony, dies at 87

Stephen Glickman, a pioneer in behavioral endocrinology and founder of the world’s first colony of captive spotted hyenas — he raised generations of them in a UC Berkeley research facility — died at his home in Berkeley on May 22 from pancreatic cancer. He was 87.

 

A professor...

Interview with Alumni Dr. Mark Gall ‘68 and Dr. Joyce Gall ‘70

Interviewed by: Hagit Caspi, Communication Specialist, College of Letters and Science

Congratulations to Joseph Campos for receiving the 2020 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the International Congress of Infant Studies

Joseph J. Campos, historically has been an early, and consistently creative contributor to the experimental study of the human infant. Conceptually, his major contributions have centered on theorizing on social referencing, elucidating the role of motor processes on...

Congratulations to Steve Hinshaw who has been awarded the 2020 American Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions

Steve Hinshaw will receive the 2020 Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions from the American Psychological Association (APA).

Congratulations to Dacher Keltner for his election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Academy recognizes excellence in science and the arts.

Academy President David W. Oxtoby and Chair of the Board of Directors Nancy C. Andrews have announced that more than 250 outstanding individuals have been elected to the Academy in 2020.

Congratulations to Alison Gopnik for selection as a 2020 Guggenheim Fellow!

Gopnik was selected from a field of nearly three thousand applicants, and joins a few other Berkeley colleagues in receiving this award for 20202. This coveted fellowship will support Gopnik’s work on children’s learning and development.

Psychology Part I: 10 Trailblazing Women at Berkeley

Throughout 2020, the Psychology Department is joining the campus in celebrating 150 Years of Women at Berkeley. October 3, 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the UC Regents’ unanimous approval in 1870 of a resolution by Regent Samuel F. Butterworth: “That young ladies be admitted into the University on equal terms in all respects with young men.” The first women were admitted as students to the university in 1872, four years after its opening in 1868.

Dan Wile, valued contributor to the Clinical Science program for many years both as a co-teacher of the Couples Therapy course and as a supervisor of student's work with couples, passed away on March 18.

Daniel B. Wile (8/3/39 – 3/18/20), nationally and internationally known founder and developer of Collaborative Couple Therapy, died in his Oakland California home on Wednesday, March 18, after a long struggle with heart failure. With a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 1966, Dan...

Congratulations to Bob Knight, the 2020 recipient of the Howard Crosby Warren Medal from the Society of Experimental Psychologists.

The SEP awards the Howard Crosby Warren Medal annually for outstanding achievement in Experimental Psychology in the United States and Canada.

Alumni Spotlight: A conversation with Anjanette Pelletier '92

Interviewed by: Hagit Caspi, Communication Specialist, College of Letters and Science

Congratulations to Kevin Weiner who has won the W.M. Cobb Award in Morphological Sciences

Originally established in 2008, the newly-named W.M. Cobb Award in Morphological Sciences recognizes investigators in the early stages of their careers who have made important contributions to biomedical science through research in the morphological sciences, as broadly defined, and have...

Congratulations to Christina Maslach who won the National Academy of Sciences Award for Scientific Reviewing

Christina Maslach, a UC Berkeley psychology professor emerita, has been honored with this year’s National Academy of Sciences Award for Scientific Reviewing for her pioneering research on job burnout and worker wellbeing. The prize comes with $25,000.

 

Maslach, who joined UC...

Hindu kids more apt to echo propaganda that ‘Indian equals Hindu’

With a multi-faith population of some 1.3 billion, India claims to be the world’s largest secular democracy. But when it comes to the question of who is a true Indian, the country’s Hindu children are more likely than their Muslim peers to connect their faith to their national identity,...

Congrats to Hinshaw for being named as recipient of the 2019 Ruane Prize

The Brain and Behavior Research Foundation has selected Stephen P. Hinshaw, PhD, as the 2019 recipient of its Ruane Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Research. He will be recognized and receive the $50,000 prize at the foundation’s International Awards Dinner...

Interview with Al Riley on a distinguished career at Berkeley

The University of California Berkeley Emeriti Association (UCBEA) has developed a project that involves video recording of emeriti faculty for the purpose of preserving the history and accomplishments of its distinguished faculty. The Legacy Project has the purpose of...

A map of the brain can tell what you’re reading about

Too busy or lazy to read Melville’s Moby Dick or Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina? That’s OK. Whether you read the classics, or listen to them instead, the same cognitive and emotional parts of the brain are likely to be stimulated. And now, there’s a map to prove it.

 

UC Berkeley...

Farewell to Tolman Hall

This building was named after Edward Chace Tolman, a well-known psychologist who made several important contributions to the field, primarily in the areas of animal cognition and learning.

The Wilbrecht lab was awarded a SFARI Foundation Winter 2019 Pilot Award

The Wilbrecht lab was awarded a SFARI Foundation Winter 2019 Pilot Award to study the influence of autism risk genes on reinforcement learning and corticostriatal circuit development. The research project will be led by Associate Professor Linda Wilbrecht and Postdoctoral fellow Dr. Kristen...

Face it. Our faces don’t always reveal our true emotions

Actor James Franco looks sort of happy as he records a video diary in the movie “127 Hours.” It’s not until the camera zooms out, revealing his arm is crushed under a boulder, that it becomes clear his goofy smile belies his agony.

 

That’s because when it comes to reading a person...

Interview with Steve Glickman on an illustrious Career at Berkeley

The University of California Berkeley Emeriti Association (UCBEA) has developed a project that involves video recording of emeriti faculty for the purpose of preserving the history and accomplishments of its distinguished faculty. The Legacy Project has the purpose of producing video interviews...

Sleep loss heightens pain sensitivity, dulls brain’s painkilling response

When we’re in pain, we have a hard time sleeping. But how does poor sleep affect pain? For the first time, UC Berkeley scientists have answered that question by identifying neural glitches in the sleep-deprived brain that can intensify and prolong the agony of sickness and injury.

 ...

Gasp! First audio map of oohs, aahs and uh-ohs spans 24 emotions

Ooh, surprise! Those spontaneous sounds we make to express everything from elation (woohoo) to embarrassment (oops) say a lot more about what we’re feeling than previously understood, according to new UC Berkeley research.

 

Proving that a sigh is not just a sigh, scientists...

Alison Gopnik to deliver one of the annual Martin Meyerson Faculty Research Lecture on March 19th

I am pleased to announce that our own Alison Gopnik has been selected to deliver one of the annual Martin Meyerson Faculty Research Lecture.

 

This is an honor bestowed by the Academic Senate each year (except during WW I in 1919) and dates back to 1912. Each year , the Academic...

What Still Needs to Be Done to Break the Silence Surrounding Sexual Harassment

Celeste Kidd organized people across industries to write a new piece from the Time Magazine Person of the Year - the Silence Breakers - in 2017. Celeste was one of the Silence Breakers, and though progress has been made in some areas, more work remains to be done:

...

Undergraduate Major Advisor Christine Mullarkey was selected as an awardee for Outstanding New Advisor and Marlen Diaz for the Outstanding Peer Advisor Award

It is my honor to share out the following notice on Excellence in Advising awardees for 2018. Our very own Undergraduate Major Advisor Christine Mullarkey was selected as an awardee for Outstanding New Advisor and Marlen Diaz for the Outstanding Peer Advisor Award.

 

If you are...

Susan Ervin-Tripp, pioneering psycholinguist and feminist, dies at 91

Susan Ervin-Tripp, a psycholinguist acclaimed for her pioneering studies of bilingualism and language development in children, native Americans and immigrants, died earlier this month in Oakland from complications of an infected cut. She was 91.

 

A widely cherished UC Berkeley...

Congratulations to Steve Hinshaw for wining Best Book Award, Autobiography/Memoir, American Book Fest (2017/8)

Glenn Close says: "Another Kind of Madness is one of the best books I’ve read about the cost of stigma and silence in a family touched by mental illness. I was profoundly moved by Stephen Hinshaw’s story, written beautifully, from the inside-out. It’s a masterpiece."

 

A deeply...

Take a bow, freshman improv grads: You slayed it

Undergrads, if you’re willing to set aside your mobile devices, embarrass yourself in front of strangers and take one for the team – personal glory be damned – here’s a class for you.

 

...

To track how students ace the LSAT, watch their eyes

A half-decade ago, UC Berkeley neuroscientists discovered that training for law school admission exams boosted brain connections that sharpen reasoning skills. Today, they’ve taken a major step closer to understanding how practicing the LSAT makes students smarter. They’re watching their eyes....

Art Shimamura has released a free e-book on student learning

Art Shimamura has developed his popular book on healthy brains into a great new book aimed at younger audiences. The book can be downloaded for free here:

 

...

Congrats to Mahesh Srinivasan for being named a James S. McDonnell Scholar

We would like to share the good news that Mahesh Srinivasan is one of 10 researchers to have been named a James S. McDonnell Scholar through the foundation's Understanding Human Cognition program. The McDonnell...

Congrats to Christina Maslach for winning 2018-19 Edward A. Dickson Emeriti Professorship Award

Edward A. Dickson served as a Regent of the University of California from 1913 to 1946, the longest tenure of any Regent. In 1955, Mr. Dickson presented the University with a gift endowment which enables each campus to make an annual $10,000 award recognizing teaching, research, or public...

Poor sleep triggers viral loneliness and social rejection

Poor sleep can literally kill your social life.

 

UC Berkeley researchers have found that sleep-deprived people feel lonelier and less inclined to engage with others, avoiding close contact in much the same way as people with social anxiety.

 

Worse still, that...

Congrats to Dacher Keltner for winning the 2019 Ambady Mentoring Award from SPSP!

The Ambady Award for Mentoring Excellence is a teaching and mentoring award that honors a personality or social psychologist who has demonstrated a career-long commitment to fostering the professional and intellectual development of students and early career researchers. This...

UC Berkeley Department of Psychology Statement on Family Separations

The following statement was drafted by the ‘Open Letter’ Positive Action Team formed by the department in late 2017 to ‘create public facing statements affirming our department’s mission and values’ and further edited according to input from members of the department. You can read the letter...

Everything big data claims to know about you could be wrong

When it comes to understanding what makes people tick — and get sick — medical science has long assumed that the bigger the sample of human subjects, the better. But new research led by UC Berkeley suggests this big-data approach may be wildly off the mark.

 

That’s largely because...

Hindu and Muslim children show unexpected religious tolerance

In a region of India with a long history of tension between Hindus and Muslims, children of different faiths are showing unexpected tolerance for one another’s religious beliefs and customs, according to a new study led by UC Berkeley psychologist Mahesh Srinivasan.

 

Researchers...

Congratulations to Lucia Jacobs for winning Radcliffe Institute Fellowship

We are pleased to announce that Prof Lucia Jacobs has won Radcliffe Institute Fellowship 2018-2019

 

The full list of fellows is online at www.radcliffe.edu/fellows2018

Congrats to Robert Levenson for being elected elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

We are pleased to announce that Prof Roberet Levenson was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

We are pleased to announce that Prof Roberet Levenson was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

 

...

Congratulations to Fei Xu for winning Guggenheim fellowship

Three UC Berkeley professors are among this year’s 175 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellows. The prestigious annual Guggenheim fellowships recognize scholars with impressive past achievements who show promise for future accomplishments in fields ranging from the natural sciences to...

Remembering Martin V. Covington – January 29, 2018

It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the death of a cherished colleague Professor Martin V. Covington. He passed away on January 29, 2018, peacefully, at his beloved home in Sea Ranch, California, just shy of his 82nd birthday.

 

Professor Covington joined the UC...

Remembering Anne Treisman, who passed away at 82

Anne Treisman was a Professor of Psychology at UC, Berkeley from 1986 through 1994. She often said that these were some of the happiest years of her professional life. These were the years that she was elected to the Royal Society of London and the National Academy of Sciences. These were also...

Scientists detect how words grow new meanings. Maybe computers will, too

What are voice-controlled personal assistants like Alexa and Siri to do when faced with words like “face” that have multiple meanings ranging from a body part to an action?

 

Words like “face” have many meanings. A new study tracks and replicates their cognitive evolution....

Congratulations to Aaron Fisher for receiving the “Rising Star” Award from the Association for Psychological Science

The APS Rising Star awards recognize "outstanding psychological scientists in the earliest stages of their research career post-PhD whose innovative work has already advanced the field and signals great potential for their continued contributions.”

 

...

Phil and Carolyn Cowan, along with collaborators, win award in the UK

Congratulations to Phil and Carolyn Cowan along with collaborators Marsha Kline Pruett (Cal grad!), Professor at Smith College, and Kyle Pruett, Professor at Yale Schoo of Medicine, for winning 'Best Family Support Intervention' at the Children & Young People Now award...

The Hidden Costs of Sleep Deficits

Throughout modern history, the concept of a good night’s sleep has often been painted as almost an indulgence. Virginia Woolf referred to it as “that deplorable curtailment of the joy of life.” Vladimir Nabokov called it “the most moronic fraternity in the world.” And more...

Congrats to D'Esposito, Gopnik and Knight for being elected as AAAS fellows

Six UC Berkeley scientists are among the 396 newest fellows elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for “advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.”

 

Ronald Cohen, Mark D’Esposito, Marla Feller, Alison...

Sleep Scientist Warns Against Walking Through Life 'In An Underslept State'

The National Sleep Foundation recommends an average of eight hours of sleep per night for adults, but sleep scientist Matthew Walker says that too many people are falling short of the mark.

 

"Human beings are the only species that deliberately deprive themselves of sleep for no...

Congratulations to Al Riley for receiving the UCBEA Distinguished Emeritus of the Year, 2017-18

Prof. Donald A. “Al” Riley retired from the Department of Psychology in 1991. You would never know it. Al continued to do active research with graduate students until 1994, and with undergraduates through 2000. He was a founding member of the University of California Berkeley...

Congratulations to Jason Okonofua for receiving the 2017 Cialdini Prize from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology

Jason Okonofua has been awarded a 2017 Cialdini Prize from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Jason, along with co-authors David Paunesku and Gregory Walton will be awarded the prize for their paper  "Brief intervention to encourage empathic discipline cuts suspension rates in...

Fox squirrels use ‘chunking’ to organize their favorite nuts

Like trick-or-treaters sorting their Halloween candy haul, fox squirrels apparently organize their stashes of nuts by variety, quality and possibly even preference, according to new UC Berkeley research.

 

The study, published today in the Royal Society Open Science journal, is the...

Congratulations to Oliver John on receiving the Society for Personality and Social Psychology's 2017 Block Award!

The Block Award is SPSP's senior career award for research accomplishment in personality psychology. It was named for Jack Block, who was known for his analytic and theoretical sophistication and depth, as well as for his broad interests. The recipients of this award are recognized for their...

More education linked to better cognitive functioning later in life

Higher levels of education are tied to later ages of peak cognitive functioning, according to new research published today in the journal PLoS One.

 

The study, led by UC Berkeley researchers, examined relationships between educational attainment, cognitive performance and learning...

Congratulations to Christina Maslach on receiving the Society for Personality and Social Psychology's 2017 Application of Personality and Social Psychology Award!

“Few 20th-century, research-based psychological constructs have become so widely recognized that dictionaries date their etymology to around the time when they were coined in a professional publication.  “Burnout” is one such construct.  Christina Maslach, Professor Emerita at the University of...

Congratulations to Fei Xu for being selected Fellow of the Cognitive Science Society

Congradulations to Fei Xu who has been elected as a Fellow of the Cognitive Science Society. This is a high honor that reflects her impact on the Cognitive Science community.

Professor Emeritus Art Shimamura has just published a new book entitled “Get SMART! Five Steps Toward a Healthy Brain”

The book translates research into action in an understandable way, and it will have insights for many people, young and old. What are the five steps? Step number one is “Get Started” and that is what you need to do when it comes to getting a copy of this book! You can get it...

Congratulations to Linda Wilbrecht and the wining team of the 2017 Radical Ideas in Brain Science Challenge

The Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute announces the selection of Markita Landry and collaborators Linda Wilbrecht, Marla Feller, and Jose Carmena as the recipients of the 2017 Radical Ideas in Brain Science Challenge. Landry and her team will receive a $300,000 award — made possible through the...

Congratulations to Qing Zhou

The department congratulates Qing Zhou on her thesis, "Parenting Practices of Contemporary Indigenous Families in Taiwan: Influences by Socio-Cultural Factors and Impacts on Children’s Early Academic Development". She has been chosen to receive a $19,635 award from the Shung Ye Museum of...

Dementia patients may die sooner if family caregivers are mentally stressed

Patients with dementia may actually die sooner if their family caregivers are mentally stressed, according to a new UC Berkeley study.

From 2007 until 2016, UC Berkeley researchers tracked the mortality of 176 patients with neurodegenerative diseases that are corrosive to brain function....

Hey Siri, an ancient algorithm may help you grasp metaphors

Ask Siri to find a math tutor to help you “grasp” calculus and she’s likely to respond that your request is beyond her abilities. That’s because metaphors like “grasp” are difficult for Apple’s voice-controlled personal assistant to, well, grasp.

 

But new UC Berkeley research...

With Google’s help, psychologist tackles ‘black troublemaker’ school stereotype

As a boy in Memphis, Tennessee, Jason Okonofua tagged along behind his two protective older brothers, even when they got into schoolyard brawls. By 10th grade he had attended a half-dozen schools, getting suspended four times and expelled once.

 

While his brothers skipped college...

Campus Study Uncovers Publication Discrepancies in STEM

A recent study found a discrepancy in publication for most STEM programs at UC Berkeley but found the campus’s College of Chemistry to be a surprising exception to the trend.

 

Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, the study’s first author and a campus psychology professor, and...

UC Berkeley Researchers Find Sleep Disruption May Lead to Memory Loss, Dementia in Elderly

While UC Berkeley students may be notorious for staying up studying and messing up their sleep schedules, according to a study recently published by campus researchers, such sleeping habits could be detrimental to brain health if continued later in life.

A group of UC Berkeley researchers...

Congratulation to Sheldon Zedeck on receiving the 2017 ATP Award for Professional Contributions and Service to Testing

ATP (Association of Test Publishers) Celebrates 2017 Award Winners

 

Two more names were added to ATP's Wall of Honor at the 2017 Innovations in Testing Conference: Dr. Neil J. Dorans,  recipient of the ATP Career Achievement Award and Dr. Sheldon Zedeck, recipient...

Congratulations to Donald A. Riley the UCBEA Distinguished Emeritus of the Year, 2017-18

The University of California at Berkeley Emeriti Associations (UCBEA) is pleased to announce the recipient of the UCBEA Distinguished Emeritus of the Year, 2017-18 – DONALD A. RILEY.

 

The Emeritus/a of the Year Award is determined by a committee of the UC Berkeley...

Congratulations to Robert Knight for being elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences!

American Academy of Arts and Sciences elects 11 faculty as members

 

Eleven UC Berkeley faculty have been elected members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the esteemed society of scholars, scientists, writers, artists, as well as civic, business and philanthropic...

Congratulations to Tom Griffiths on securing a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for 2017!

Griffiths was selected from a field of nearly three thousand applicants, and joins six Berkeley colleagues in receiving this award for 2017. This coveted fellowship will support Griffiths in his research efforts, and reinforces his stature as an innovative and rigorous scientist.

 ...

Deep Sleep May Act as Fountain of Youth in Old Age

As we grow old, our nights are frequently plagued by bouts of wakefulness, bathroom trips and other nuisances as we lose our ability to generate the deep, restorative slumber we enjoyed in youth.

 

But does that mean older people just need less sleep?

 

The...

Congratulations to Tania Lombrozo on receiving a 2017 American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship

Congratulations to Tania Lombrozo for being named an American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) fellow. The set of 71 fellows was selected through ACLS’s rigorous, multi-stage peer review process from a pool of nearly 1,200 applicants. The fellowship supports scholars for six to twelve months...

Scientists Use This Movie Clip to Make People Sob Their Eyes Out. Can You Resist It?

What’s the funniest movie of all time? How about the scariest movie? The saddest? You probably have your own set of answers to all of these questions, forged over years of debate with friends and first dates, tempered in bottomless cups of coffee and wine. There is no wrong answer; defining our...

Hospitals are Getting Physician Burnout and Engagement All Wrong — Here's Why

Physician burnout poses a threat to clinicians' well-being, patient care and the hospital bottom line — and it's on the rise. Healthcare administrators are paying increasing attention to what many have deemed an epidemic of physician burnout, going so far as to enlist consultants to assess and...

Dacher Keltner's Latest Research on HAPPINESS

David Attenborough's Planet Earth II can make you HAPPIER and can even reduce stress

The research confirms that even short engagement with nature shows leads to significant...

Professor Susan Ervin-Tripp: 2016 Class of ’31 Interviewee in University History

One of the great joys of being an oral historian is getting to talk to people you otherwise wouldn’t have known. We have the privilege of asking people about their lives, putting their experiences in context of the larger historical landscape, posing questions that others don’t have the...

Artificial Intelligence/Natural Stupidity- Podcast

On this week's episode of Think Again–a Big Think Podcast, Alison Gopnik and host Jason Gots discuss play, artificial intelligence, and the trouble with "parenting" as a verb.
Surprise "conversation starter" interview clips in this episode:Ryan Holiday, Steven Pinker, and Sonia Arrison....

‘Does what I study even matter now?’ Yes, it does. Here’s why.

Every once in a while, I have an existential crisis. I question my career, my relevance, my purpose. Why, I ask myself, am I doing research when there are so many more immediately important things going on? Why do I agonize over articles that so very few people read? Who cares about our ivory...

Congratulations to Mahesh!

Assistant Professor Mahesh Srinivasan was recently named a “Rising Star” by the Association for Psychological Science. The Rising Star designation recognizes “outstanding psychological scientists in the earliest stages of their research career post-PHD whose innovative work has already advanced...

Why The Lights Don’t Dim When We Blink

Every few seconds, our eyelids automatically shutter and our eyeballs roll back in their sockets. So why doesn’t blinking plunge us into intermittent darkness and light?

New research led by UC Berkeley shows that the brain works extra hard to stabilize our vision despite our fluttering...

Pop-outs: How the brain extracts meaning from noise

When you’re suddenly able to understand someone despite their thick accent, or finally make out the lyrics of a song, your brain appears to be re-tuning to recognize speech that was previously incomprehensible.

 

UC Berkeley neuroscientists have now observed this re-tuning in...

Congratuations to Steve!

Congratulations to Steve Hinshaw, for his recently announced award from the Society for Research in Child Development, for Distinguished Contributions to Child Development.  This award Is given in recognition of an SRCD member’s continuous lifetime contributions to the scientific body of...

Scientific Impact Award

Social Psychologist Claude Steele has been awarded the Scientific Impact Award by the Society of Experimental Social Psychology (SESP) along with Joshua Aronson of NYU/Steinhardt.

 

The Scientific Impact Award is intended for “a specific article or chapter offering a theoretical,...

Distinguished Faculty Lecture

Professor Emeritus Sheldon Zedeck

"A Long Search for Better Prediction of Academic Performance: Non-cognitive Predictors"

The presentation focused on Shelly's career efforts to search for, develop, and implement fairer testing processes that yield a more diverse workforce and...

Watch These Frustrated Squirrels Go Nuts

Although our department is well known for its studies of emotion in humans. Ph.D. candidate Mikel Delgado,
from the Jacobs Lab (...

Brain’s hippocampus helps fill in the blanks of language

A new study shows that when you finish your spouse’s sentences or answer a fill-in-the-blank question, you’re engaging the brain’s relay station for memories, an area that until now was largely neglected by scientists studying language....

Our brain activity could be nudged to make healthier choices

Netflix binge-watching versus a hike in the woods. A cheeseburger versus kale salad. Fentanyl versus Tylenol. New UC Berkeley research suggests our brain activity could be influenced to make the healthier choice.

 ...

Couples study ties anger to heart problems, stonewalling to back pain

If you rage with frustration during a marital spat, watch your blood pressure. If you keep a stiff upper lip, watch your back.  New research from UC Berkeley and Northwestern University, based on how couples behave during conflicts, suggests outbursts of anger predict cardiovascular problems...

Fox squirrels’ tell-tail signs of frustration

Fox squirrels flick their tails when they can’t get a cherished nut in much the same way that humans kick a vending machine that fails to deliver the anticipated soda or candy bar, according to new UC Berkeley research.

...

Congratulations to Psychology's Outstanding Graduate Student Instructors!

The UC Berkeley Outstanding GSI Awards are given to the best GSIs of the year, nominated by the course instructor. Congratulations to the Outstanding GSI Award Winners for 2015-16 from Psychology.
From left to right: Rupa Mahajan Robbins (Education), Rebecca Hachmyer (Education), Michaela...

Scientists map brain’s thesaurus to help decode inner thoughts

What if a map of the brain could help us decode people’s inner thoughts?

UC Berkeley scientists have taken a step in that direction by building a “semantic atlas” that shows in vivid colors and multiple dimensions how the human brain organizes language. The atlas identifies brain areas...

Paralyzed by indecision? Forget therapy. You need an algorithm

Information overload and “fear of missing out” may rank among the biggest contributors to chronic indecision. But help is at hand.

...

Perception Science Summer Program for High Schoolers

This program offers advanced high-school students the opportunity to be involved with cutting-edge research in vision science. In this immersive experience, students will be involved in every step of the research process, and will be working alongside Whitney lab members to...

Scientists tap the smarts of mice, capture problem-solving in action

UC Berkeley scientists have captured unique images of problem-solving in action by tapping into the minds of mice. The study shows rapid rewiring in the rodents’ frontal brains after they learn by trial and error.

Using advanced microscopy techniques, researchers found that when mice used...

Congratulations to Tania Lombrozo!

Professor Tania Lombrozo is the recipient of the American Psychological Association (APA) Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology in the area of cognition and human learning. This award recognizes excellent psychologists who are at early stages of their...

Prof. Sheri Johnson is the recipient of a Harry Frank Guggenheim Research Grant

The Harry Frank Guggehim Foundation awards grants from the natural and social sciences and the humanities that promise to increase understanding of the causes, manifestations, and control of violence and aggression. Their highest priority is given to research that can increase understanding and...

2015 Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence

Professor Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton has been selected as the recipient of the 2015 Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence. The selection committee was inspired by both his extensive scholarly impact and his deep commitment to campus efforts on increasing intergroup awareness,...

Professor Robert Levenson wins Distinguished Contributions to Psychophysiology Award!

At the 2015 annual meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research held in Seattle, Washington, IPSR Director Bob Levenson received the Distinguished Contributions to Psychophysiology Award, honoring his scientific contributions to the field, his mentoring, and his service to the Society...

Late bedtimes could lead to weight gain

Teenagers and adults who go to bed late on weeknights are more likely to gain weight than their peers who hit the hay earlier, according to a new study from UC Berkeley that has found a correlation between sleep and body mass index. Berkeley researchers analyzed longitudinal data from a...

Smell Mapping: Using Your Nose To Retrace Your Steps

Professor Lucia Jacobs has found that people can create a map in their heads with scents as location markers. NPR replicates the experiment with a master sommelier, and discovers that olfactory navigation is lot more successful if you have a sophisticated nose.  Listen to the interview on...

Congratulations to Bob Knight!

Professor Robert Knight has been awarded the 2015 Faculty Award for Excellence in Postdoctoral Mentoring. This award comes with a $3,000 prize and was presented to him at the National Postdoc Appreciation Day...

It don’t mean a thing if the brain ain’t got that swing

Like Duke Ellington’s 1931 jazz standard, the human brain improvises while its rhythm section keeps up a steady beat. But when it comes to taking on intellectually challenging tasks, groups of neurons tune in to one another for a fraction of a second and harmonize, then go back to improvising,...

A message from the new Chair Ann Kring:

Hello Alumni and Friends! After four outstanding years of astute and inspiring leadership, Rich Ivry is stepping down as chair and returning to full time teaching and research. Our Department flourished under Rich’s leadership and guidance, and we are all very grateful for his hard work,...

The sleep-deprived brain can mistake friends for foes

If you can’t tell a smile from a scowl, you’re probably not getting enough sleep.

A new UC Berkeley study shows that sleep deprivation dulls our ability to accurately read facial expressions. This deficit can have serious consequences, such as not noticing that a child is sick or in pain...

Professor Emerita Christina Maslach recalls famous prison study, now a movie

An independent feature film, set for theatrical release this month (New York on July 15, San Francisco on July 24), dramatizes the story of a research study that recreated a prison setting in August 1971. UC Berkeley’s Christina Maslach, professor emerita of psychology, is well-qualified to...

Intellectual pursuits may buffer the brain against addiction

Challenging the idea that addiction is hardwired in the brain, a new UC Berkeley study of mice suggests that even a short time spent in a stimulating learning environment can rewire the brain’s reward system and buffer it against drug dependence.

Scientists tracked cocaine cravings in...

Humans’ built-in GPS is our 3-D sense of smell

New study shows we can use our sense of smell not just to identify objects, but to navigate.
Like homing pigeons, humans have a nose for navigation because our brains are wired to convert smells into spatial information, new research from UC Berkeley shows.

While humans may lack the...

Oh Joy! Berkeley consults on ‘Inside Out’ emotions

When UC Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner attended the Hollywood premiere of the new Pixar movie Inside Out – which opens Friday in theaters nationwide – he was thrilled to see children running around the purple (not red) carpet yelling, “I’m Fear,” “I’m Sadness” or “I want to be Anger.”...

Get the giggles often? It may be in your DNA

New study links a gene variant with smiling and laughter.

Researchers at UC Berkeley and Northwestern University have found that a gene involved in the regulation of serotonin makes some of us more prone to spontaneous smiles and bursts of laughter, according to their study just published...

Poor sleep linked to toxic buildup of Alzheimer’s protein, memory loss

Poor sleep, more common in old age, is linked to the protein implicated in Alzheimer’s disease.

Sleep may be a missing piece in the Alzheimer’s disease puzzle.

UC Berkeley scientists have found compelling evidence that poor sleep — particularly a deficit of the deep, restorative...

Congratulations to our Outstanding GSIs

On May 5, 2015, the GSI Teaching and Resource Center hosted a reception to honor Outstanding Graduate Student Instructors (OGSIs). From the Department of Psychology award certificates were presented to the six OGSIs, and one from the Graduate School of Eduation. The OGSI Award is in recognition...

Congratulations Rich!

Professor Rich Ivry been selected to receive the Distinguished Service Award from the Division of Social Sciences in the College of Letters and Sciences. The award is designed to encourage and reward faculty members who have been exceptionally generous and effective in both undergraduate and...

Stereotypes persist that class and privilege determine intellect and success

A meritocracy holds that if you work hard enough, you can succeed in life, regardless of race, religion, gender or social status. But a new study from UC Berkeley suggests that, despite egalitarian efforts to downplay class as a forecaster for intelligence and achievement, many people still...

Western Psychology Association 2015 Social Responsibility Award

Congratulations to Professor Dacher Keltner for being awarded the 2015 Western Psychology Association (WPA) Social Responsibility Award for his phenomenal work on the Greater Good Project.   The WPA Social Responsibility Award is given to individuals in recognition of substantial and influential...

Anxious people more apt to make bad decisions amid uncertainty

Highly anxious people have more trouble deciding how best to handle situations involving uncertainty, finding such situations distressing and immobilizing. But why is this the case? New research from UC Berkeley published online this week in Nature Neuroscience suggests that people prone to high...

Harnessing psychological processes to improve sleep

Recently Professor Allison Harvey published findings that support effectiveness of cognitive and transdiagnostic approaches to treating sleep disorders. The article was published by the American Psychological...

Your Brain on Drugs: Novel Clinical Implications

Get an introduction to the latest scientific findings on addiction's effect on the brain in this incisive talk with UC Berkeley professor Mark. D'Esposito. Understand how certain circuits in the brain that normally guide goal-directed behavior are malfunctioning in the throes of addiction...

What babies tell us about artificial intelligence

They may outwit the chess Grandmaster Kasparov, but can machines ever be as smart as a three-year-old?

    Instead of trying to produce a programme to simulate the adult mind, why not rather try to produce one which simulates the child’s? – Alan Turing, 1950.

In an “Ideas Lab”...

Blocking hormone could eliminate stress-induced infertility

UC Berkeley scientists have discovered that chronic stress activates a hormone that reduces fertility long after the stress has ended, and that blocking this hormone returns female reproductive behavior to normal.

While the experiments were conducted in rats, the researchers are...

Facebook got You Down?

“Want chocolate?” asks Dacher Keltner, opening his hand to reveal three foil-wrapped sweets. To a writer arriving at Keltner’s office on the UC Berkeley campus for a morning interview, it’s the perfect gesture: spontaneous, humble, and warmly human.

The social psychologist and professor...

How songbirds may help build a better hearing aid

Untreated hearing loss can have devastating and alienating repercussions on a person’s life: isolation, depression, sapped cognition, even dementia.

Yet only one in five Americans who could benefit from a hearing aid actually wears one. Some don’t seek help because their loss has been so...

Wealth, power or lack thereof at heart of many mental disorders

Donald Trump’s ego may be the size of his financial empire, but that doesn’t mean he’s the picture of mental health. The same can be said about the self-esteem of people who are living from paycheck to paycheck, or unemployed. New research from UC Berkeley underscores this mind-wallet connection...

Scientists detect brain network that gives humans superior reasoning skills

When it comes to getting out of a tricky situation, we humans have an evolutionary edge over other primates. Take, as a dramatic example, the Apollo 13 voyage in which engineers, against all odds, improvised a chemical filter on a lunar module to prevent carbon dioxide buildup from killing the...

Thanksgiving and Gratitude: The Science of Happier Holidays

It’s easy to get caught up in the rush of materialism, which has been shown to undermine happiness. There’s a simple antidote: Practice gratitude.

As the holiday shopping season moves into high gear, it’s easy to get caught up in the rush of...

‘Sleepless in America’ documentary to feature Berkeley research

BERKELEY —

We spend one-third of our lives sleeping, and yet it is only in the last decade or so that scientists have begun to really understand why. Among other things, UC Berkeley sleep researcher Matthew Walker has linked sleep

...

Wishful Thinking: Can Scientists Really Read Your Brain?

Scientists have found ways to send messages from brain to brain, and developed methods to scan a person's gray matter and sketch an image of their thoughts. It's only a matter until they

...

Of rats and men: Tolman, behavior and academic freedom

 

In Tolman Hall, Seth Rosenfeld, author of "Subversives," connected the dots from Edward Tolman's stand against the

...

New post-bac at Berkeley may be hottest ticket to grad school

A decade ago, Aaron Fisher was a nanny in Manhattan for a successful actor (don’t ask who; he can’t tell) after giving up his dream of being a famous rock musician in San Francisco. Feeling at loose ends one night, the Wesleyan-University-trained guitarist scanned the Web and randomly applied...

The Science of Awe

The Science of Awe! Can psychologists chart

...

Why we can’t tell a Hollywood heartthrob from his stunt double

Johnny Depp has an unforgettable face. Tony Angelotti, his stunt double in “Pirates of the Caribbean,” does not. So why is it that when they’re swashbuckling on screen, audiences worldwide see them both as the same person? UC Berkeley scientists have cracked that mystery.

...

Coordinating Movement, Language, and Thoughts? An Expanded Role for the Cerebellum

Anytime we are using our coordination – whether taking a shot in golf or just reaching for a coffee mug – the cerebellum is at play. The small structure at the base of the brain is well-known to be critical in coordinating our movements, their precision and timing. But according to a growing...

Visual ‘Gist’ Helps Us Figure Out Where a Crowd Is Looking

Have you ever seen a crowd of people looking off into the distance, perhaps toward a passing biker or up to the top of a building? There’s a good chance you looked there, too, instantly, even without paying attention to the individuals in the group. How can we tell where a crowd is looking with...

Ever wonder why children can so easily figure out how to work the TV remote?

 


Ever wonder why children can so easily figure out how to work the TV remote? Or why they "totally get" apps on your smartphone faster than you? It turns out that young children may be more open-minded than adults...

Building brain implants to treat neuropsychiatric illness

Professor Jonathan Wallis is part of a team of scientists selected to build a brain implant for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disease. The multi-institution team received one of the first awards from President Obama's BRAIN initiative. 

...

In Memoriam

Harrison Gough passed away on Sunday, May 4, 2014.
 
Prof. Gough was a long-time member of our Department.  He joined the Department in 1949, straight from his PhD program at Minnesota and remained at Berkeley for his entire career.  He served as Chair of the Department...

Brain Size Matters When it Comes to Animal Self-control

Chimpanzees may throw tantrums like toddlers, but their total brain size suggests they have more self-control than, say, a gerbil or fox squirrel, according to a new study of 36 species of mammals and birds ranging from orangutans to zebra finches.

Scientists at Duke University, UC...

Prof. Tania Lombrozo Selected for 2014 Outstanding Early Career Award from the Psychonomic Society

Prof. Tania Lombrozo has been selected as a Psychonomic Society Outstanding Early Career Awardee for 2014. Several awards are made each year to “young scientists who have made significant contributions to scientific psychology early in...

The ADHD Explosion: Myths, Medication, Money and Today's Push for Performance

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most controversial and misunderstood medical conditions today.  Skyrocketing rates of diagnosis and medication treatment have generated a firestorm of controversy.  Alarming questions have been raised about ADHD in recent...

Scientists pinpoint how we miss subtle visual changes, and why it keeps us sane

Ever notice how Harry Potter’s T-shirt changes from a crewneck to a henley shirt in the “Order of the Phoenix,” or how in “Pretty Woman,” Julia Roberts’ croissant inexplicably morphs into a pancake? Don’t worry if you missed those continuity bloopers. Vision scientists at UC Berkeley and MIT...

Professor Emeritus Dan Slobin is the recipient of the 2014 Roger Brown Award!

The 2014 Roger Brown Award will be presented to Dan Isaac Slobin, UC Berkeley, for his contributions to the field of language acquisition at the 13th International Congress for the Study of Child Language to be held in Amsterdam this summer.  The Awards Ceremony will take place on  Friday, July...

Forever Valentine: Study shows marriage gets better in old age

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage – and then what?

That was the question bugging UC Berkeley psychologist Robert Levenson in the 1980s when the U.S. divorce rate peaked at around 50 percent. So in 1989, he and fellow psychologists — John Gottman at...

Happiness hyped, ethnic competition and power poses

Aiming for happiness can stress you out. White and Asian students feel at a disadvantage in college admissions. And striking powerful poses before a job interview (hands on hips, feet spread, chin up) can make you come across as more hirable.

These are among the UC Berkeley findings that...

The New Scientist places Art Shimamura's Experiencing Art: In the Brain of the Beholder among the best science books of 2013!

How do we appreciate a work of art? Why do we like some artworks but not others? Is there no accounting for taste? Awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to explore connections between art, mind, and brain, Shimamura considers how we experience art. In a thoughtful and entertaining manner, the book...

Society of Experimental Psychologists Early Investigator Award

Professor Tania Lombrozo has been named the recipient of the Early Investigator Award from the Society of Experimental Psychologists.  As such, she will become a Lifetime Fellow of the Society of Experimental Psychologists, the oldest and most prestigious honorary society in Psychology, and join...

Brains on Trial with Alan Alda

Alan Alda went to UC Berkeley to visit with Dr. Jack Gallant. Gallant’s research revolves around the visual system and how our brain interprets what we see. Gallant puts participants in a...

Dealing With Burnout, Which Doesn’t Always Stem From Overwork

IT’S the end of the year, and lots of us are feeling a little overwhelmed. Tired, unfocused and ready to take a nice break with our families (or away from our families in some cases).

...

Happily ever after? Your genes help determine the answer

It may be that an ingredient that determines whether your marriage is bliss on earth or a living hell is in your genes. Weirder still, it’s the same gene

...

UC Berkeley psychology professor makes kids editors of research journal

Seeking to engage children in neuroscience research and stimulate interest in the subject, UC Berkeley professor of psychology and neuroscience Robert Knight last Monday launched an online scientific journal mainly edited by students between the ages of 8 and 18.

The...

Teen night owls likely to perform worse academically, emotionally

Teenagers who go to bed late during the school year are more prone to academic and emotional difficulties in the long run, compared to their earlier-to-bed counterparts, according to a new study from UC Berkeley.

Teenagers who go to bed late during the school year were found to be

...

Psych 1 goes online!

As part of the UC system-wide initiative concerning online education and in order to enhance student access to “General Psychology,” the Department of Psychology has created an online version of Psych 1, called Psych w1.
The introductory psychology course, Psych 1, is one of the most...

What Do Babies Think?

Alison Gopnik discusses her work in an interview on the TED Radio Hour on NPR.  Professor Gopnik's research is also featured in a New York Times ...

The Association for Psychological Science Award for Lifetime Achievement

Congratulations Bob! Professor Robert Levenson will receive the first APS Mentor Award.
The APS Mentor Award is a new lifetime achievement award to recognize psychology researchers and educators who have shaped...

Emoticons get more emotional, thanks to Berkeley psychologists

Emoticons not expressing the full complexity of your feelings?

UC Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner and his team at the campus’s Greater Good Science Center can help. They have assisted in creating a nuanced Facebook sticker

...

Psychocinematics: Exploring Cognition at the Movies

Largely through trial and error, filmmakers have developed engaging techniques that capture our sensations, thoughts, and feelings. Philosophers and film theorists have thought deeply about the nature and impact of these techniques, yet few scientists have delved into empirical analyses of our...

Motion, Faces, Depth, Color

Four mini demonstrations performed by graduate students from the Whitney lab in local elementary and middle schools.  For more information about the Whitney Lab, please click here http://whitneylab.berkeley.edu/

Commencement 2012

"Generation We", Keynote address by Professor Dacher Keltner.

Tania Lombrozo Receives Janet Taylor Spence Award

Tania Lombrozo is a recipient of the Association for Psychological Science's 2012 Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions. Read about Tania's work and her thoughts on human curiosity and its consequences ...

Silvia Bunge receives 21st Century Science Initiative Grant

Silvia Bunge receives 21st Century Science Initiative Grant from the James S. McDonnell Foundation. Dr. Bunge's work will investigate "Relational reasoning: Neural mechanisms, development, and plasticity." 

Robert Knight Receives Social Science Service Award

Bob Knight was recognized for his many years of service as Director of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute.

Tsk tsk, How The Wealthy Misbehave

A provocative new study shows upper-class Americans are more likely to lie, cheat and steal.

The study builds on five years of research by psychologists at the University of California, Berkeley. They argue that because upper-class individuals are...

Findings Offer New Clues Into The Addicted Brain

What drives addicts to repeatedly choose drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, overeating, gambling or kleptomania, despite the risks involved? Neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have pinpointed the exact locations in the brain where calculations...

Pulling An All-nighter Can Bring On Euphoria and Risky Behavior

A sleepless night can make us cranky and moody. But a lesser known side effect of sleep deprivation is short-term euphoria, which can potentially lead to poor judgment and addictive behavior, according to new research from the University of California,...

Summer Sessions 2012

The Psyhology Department is offering 17 courses this summer in three different sessions.  For a complete listing of courses click here:

http://osoc.berkeley.edu/OSOC/osoc...

UC Berkeley Psychophysiology Lab

The Berkeley Psychophysiology Laboratory seeks to understand the nature of human emotion in terms of its physiological and behavioral manifestations; and how emotion can vary across age, gender, and clinical pathology. The laboratory trains undergraduate...

Young women with ADHD are more prone to self-injury

A study led by Stephen Hinshaw indicates that, as they enter adulthood, girls with histories of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are more prone to self-injury and suicide attempts.  

[...

Intense prep for the LSAT alters brain structure

Research conducted in Silvia Bunge's lab shows that intensive preparation for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) actually changes the microscopic structure of the brain, physically bolstering the connections between areas of the brain important for...

Stuck on You

Mary Main's important contributions to attachment theory research are highlighted in the latest issue of California Magazine.

[...

How the rich are different from the poor

Research by Paul Piff, Michael Kraus, Jennifer Stellar, Dacher Keltner, and Robert Knight is featured in an article on social class in New York Magazine.

Read the article:  ...

Labeling cells in the hippocampus to study neurogenesis and memory.

For more information about Lance Kriegsfeld's research click here: http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~ljkriegs/

Using virtual worlds to explore the mind, brain, and body

"'Cognition and Action Lab:  Using virtual worlds to explore the mind, brain, and body."

For more information on Rich Ivry's lab, please see:  http://ivrylab.berkeley.edu/

Serena Chen: Marian E. and Daniel E. Koshland, Jr. Distinguished Chair for Innovative Teaching and Research

Marian E. and Daniel E. Koshland, Jr. Distinguished Chair for Innovative Teaching and Research

Purpose

Established in 2009 by Dan's and Bunny's children to honor their transformational legacy at UC Berkeley, The Marian E. and Daniel...

Can Children Make Computers Smarter?

Alison Gopnik, Tom Griffiths, Tania Lombrozo, and Fei Xu are pursuing research that indicates that the answer is "yes." 

Read more: Scientists tap the genius of...

Paul Piff to receive the SPSSI Social Issues Dissertation Award

Paul Piff was selected to receive the First Place 2012 SPSSI Social Issues Dissertation Award for his dissertation, "On wealth and wrongdoing:  How social class influences unethical behavior."

Studying infant motor, social, and emotional development

The Infant Studies Laboratory centers on an understanding of the developmental transitions infants undergo in the first two years of life.  Currently, our work centers on three developmental transitions: http://babycenter.berkeley.edu/

Affective Cognitive Neuroscience lab

The Bishop lab's research focuses on the brain mechanisms underlying the prioritized processing of emotionally salient stimuli, fear conditioning,  face processing, and individual differences in cortical and subcortical function, the latter including investigation of the neuro...

Exploring the links between emotion, emotion regulation, and health

The Emotion and Emotion Regulation lab studies emotion and emotion regulation, with an emphasis on their links to psychological health. 

For more information on the Emotion and Emotion Regulation lab, click here:  ...

2012 Diener Award in Social Psychology

Congratulations Dacher!  For more information on Professor's Keltner's research, please see: http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~keltner/

2012 ...

Congratulations Bob...

Professor Robert Knight has been awarded the Distinguished Career Contributions Award from the Cognitive Neurosceince Society http://www.cogneurosociety.org/ for 2013.  For more information on Bob's lab, please click here: ...

Tom Griffiths receives 2012 Distinguished Early Career Scientific Contribution to Psychology Award

Tom Griffiths received a 2012 Distinguished Early Career Scientific Contribution to Psychology Award in the area of cognition and human learning.  

Kids don't have to wear lab coats to act like scientists

Alison Gopnik's work is featured in an article published in the San Francisco Chronicle entitled "...

Bringing mathematical precision to the deepest questions in human learning, reasoning

Congratulations Tom!

"Bringing mathematical precision to the deepest questions in human learning, reasoning, and concept formation!

For more information about the APA award please see...