A program that gets students into labs as early as their first year at UC Davis transforms lives — leading many to pursue careers in research. Accelerating Success by Providing Intensive Research Experience, or ASPIRE, has begun reaching out to a wider pool of students. “We wanted to find the students who, given this opportunity, would go the farthest relative to where they started,” says co-founder Steve Luck, Distinguished Professor of Psychology.
When you're "in the zone" — experiencing flow — what is your brain doing? In a study of 140 video game players, a UC Davis assistant professor of communication and cognitive science found that flow involves energy-efficient networking of brain regions.
Joy Geng, a professor in the Department of Psychology and at the Center for Mind and Brain, was recently named a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (APS) for her contributions to the understanding of human cognition.
Despite the ongoing threat of misinformation spreading online, UC Davis cognitive scientist Seth Frey still believes in the promise of the internet as a force for political and economic empowerment. The National Science Foundation recently awarded Frey and colleagues at three other universities a $460,000 grant to study how groups create and enforce self-rule in a wide array of domains, including Frey’s focus: Reddit forums (called subreddits) and video games.
When George “Ron” Mangun led a campuswide effort to launch the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain in 2002, he declared, “This is the most exciting time in mind and brain research in human history.” In an interview, Mangun talks about becoming the center's director for a second time and the even greater potential for mind and brain breakthroughs today.
In high-stakes environments, success is not just about playing your cards right, but also playing your opponents right. Looking at how more than 35,000 individuals interacted when playing millions of poker hands online, a University of California, Davis, study reveals that game experts are an excellent source of insight into how people process strategic information in competitive settings.
Back-to-school time at the UC Davis College of Letters and Science means a rededication to our mission as a liberal arts powerhouse. More than ever, we’re focused on growing our students’ intellectual adaptability, critical thinking, and collaborative commitment to improving themselves and the world around them.