Psychology | UC Davis College of Letters and Science

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International Society Honors Memory Research Pioneer

by Kathleen Holder
June 27, 2022

Charan Ranganath, a professor of psychology and director of the UC Davis Memory and Plasticity Program, has been selected for a Psychonomic Society 2022 Mid-Career Award for his research on the science of human memory. Ranganath is one of three scholars worldwide chosen to receive the award from the international society.

Understanding Learning by Inference

by Andy Fell
June 22, 2022

Science

Both humans and other animals are good at learning by inference, using information we do have to figure out things we cannot observe directly. New research from the Center for Mind and Brain at the University of California, Davis, shows how our brains achieve this by constructing cognitive maps.

Bat Brains Organized for Echolocation and Flight

by Andy Fell
June 02, 2022

Science

Anew study shows how the brains of Egyptian fruit bats are highly specialized for echolocation and flight, with motor areas of the cerebral cortex that are dedicated to sonar production and wing control. The work by researchers at the University of California, Davis, and UC Berkeley was published May 25 in Current Biology. Professor Leah Krubitzer’s lab at the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience studies how evolution produces variation in brain organization across a wide variety of mammals, including opossums, tree shrews, rodents and primates. This comparative neurobiology approach shows how both evolution and development influence brain organization.

Two students are on their phone, chatting and smiling.

Young Adults Turn Crushes Into Love, UC Davis Study Suggests

by Karen Michele Nikos-Rose
June 01, 2022

Society and Culture

The image of young adults living in a hookup culture with emotionally meaningless relationships is a common theme in movies and daytime talk shows. But it seems not to be the norm in real college life, according to a study from UC Davis Psychology led by Paul Eastwick.

A review of research literature shows that high self-esteem has long-term psychological benefits and is distinct from the negative effects of narcissism. (Getty Images)

Research Review Shows Self-Esteem Has Long-Term Benefits

by Melissa Blouin
April 18, 2022

Society and Culture

In recent years, self-esteem has fallen out of favor in the scientific literature and in the popular media as an important factor for life outcomes. But a new large research review conducted by psychologists at UC Davis and the University of Bern suggests that high self-esteem can have a positive influence in many areas of people’s lives.

Silhouette of back of a student sitting on a bench, under a shade tree, looking out at lake in the UC Davis Arboretum

Viewing Water Outdoors Slows Heart, Lowers Blood Pressure

by Kathleen Holder
April 15, 2022

The next time you feel your heart racing and your blood pressure rising, try this: Go outside and gaze at a body of water. Research by a UC Davis psychologist suggests that contemplating water — even if it’s a swimming pool — may be good for psychological well-being.

A new study at the California National Primate Research Center shows that rhesus macaques can perceive their own heartbeat. This ability to be aware of internal states is called interoception. Deficits in interception can occur in neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression and Alzheimer’s disease. The discovery could lead to new ways to study such diseases. (Graphic by Matthew Valdolivo/UC Davis Academic Technology Services)

Rhesus Monkeys Can Perceive Their Own Heartbeat

by Messiah Folashade Foster
April 13, 2022

Rhesus macaques are able to perceive their own heartbeats, according to a new study from the California National Primate Research Center at the University of California, Davis, and Royal Holloway, University of London. The research, published April 11 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, creates a first-of-its-kind animal model of interoception.

Student Autism Researcher Named a Goldwater Scholar

by Kathleen Holder
April 12, 2022

A UC Davis psychology major who hopes to someday work as a clinical psychologist with clients on the autism spectrum has been awarded a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, the nation’s leading scholarship for undergraduates pursuing research careers in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering. Lynnette Hersh is one of two UC Davis students and among 417 sophomores and juniors nationwide selected from a pool of more than 5,000 applicants to receive the prestigious STEM scholarship

Looking over the shoulder of a student at a professor in an outdoor class at UC Davis

College Programs Rank Among ‘Best Graduate Schools’

by Kathleen Holder
March 29, 2022

UC Davis College of Letters and Science graduate programs in psychology, statistics and earth science rank in the top 20 in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 Best Graduate Schools rankings.

Close-up of new version of Blacks & Whites game

A Zero-Sum Game

by Karen Nikos-Rose
February 28, 2022

Society and Culture

New York comedy duo Nehemiah Markos and Jed Feiman have released a 50th anniversary edition of the racially conscious Monopoly-style game, Blacks & Whites, created in 1970 by the late psychology professor Robert Sommer.