Social Sciences (Faculty & Staff)

School Discipline Can Be Predicted, New Research Says. Is It Preventable?

April 18, 2023

A new study by UC Berkeley researchers reveals alarming racial disparities in school discipline rates, with Black students facing a 50x higher risk of discipline than their white counterparts. The study highlights the "dynamic" nature of discipline throughout the school year, with rates decreasing before major vacations and increasing when classes resume. This real-time data is critical for educators to intervene before incidents occur and reduce escalating school tension.

Jason Okonofua, assistant professor of psychology at UC Berkeley, and the study’s...

People Differ Widely in Their Understanding of Even a Simple Concept Such as the Word ‘Penguin’

April 25, 2023
Simon Makin

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word “penguin” as “any of various erect short-legged flightless aquatic birds (family Spheniscidae) of the southern hemisphere.” That description seems simple enough, but definitions are not what people have in mind when they actually use words. Instead people think of concepts: the myriad properties, ideas, examples and associations that spring to mind when we think about a word.

Our concepts are crucial to exactly what we mean when we use language, and new research has found that the concepts people hold, even for a word like penguin,...

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/people-differ-widely-in-their-underst…

Deep sleep may mitigate Alzheimer’s memory loss, Berkeley research shows

May 4, 2023

Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley have uncovered a significant breakthrough in the fight against Alzheimer's disease. According to their latest study, deep sleep can help protect against memory loss in older adults who are at a heightened risk of developing the disease. The researchers found that deep, non-REM slow-wave sleep can act as a "cognitive reserve factor" that may increase resilience against a protein called beta-amyloid, which is linked to memory loss caused by dementia.

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Berkeley political scientists chart a promising course to ease toxic polarization

May 22, 2023
Edward Lempinem

Blue and red photo illustration of people at a rally holding megaphones and waving American flagsThe year was 2020, just a few weeks before the presidential election, when Republican gubernatorial candidate Spencer Cox and Democratic opponent Chris Peterson teamed up to make an unconventional campaign ad. Appearing together on the same screen, they pledged to campaign in a civil, respectful way, and to honor November’s...

https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/05/22/berkeley-political-scientists-chart-a-promi…

What can psychology teach us about AI’s bias and misinformation problem?

June 23, 2023
Jason Pohl

AI and misinformation

Knowledge may be power. But what if the information that leads to that knowledge is wrong?

To Celeste Kidd, assistant professor of psychology at UC Berkeley, the answer is simple: It’s dangerous and perhaps the most concerning aspect of generative AI’s rapid expansion.

Systems like ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion and DALL-E have rippled...

https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/06/22/what-can-psychology-teach-us-about-ais-bias…

Anthropology professor publishes two papers that offer key insights into mental health equity in Africa

August 11, 2023
Kenny Ma

Two groundbreaking research papers by UC Berkeley Anthropology Professor Andrew Wooyoung Kim reveal transformative insights into mental health, focusing on the intergenerational effects of mental well-being in Uganda and resilient coping mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic in metro Johannesburg, South Africa.

Titled ...

Psychology study reveals goal-oriented rewards as key factors in decision-making

July 17, 2023
Kenny Ma

Groundbreaking research from UC Berkeley’s Department of Psychology is shifting the understanding of human decision-making processes by highlighting the importance of goal-oriented rewards. Conducted by Berkeley Psychology Professor Anne Collins and Berkeley Psychology doctoral student Gaia Molinaro, the study suggests that the value people attribute to outcomes is subjective, and heavily influenced by their personal goals and the context of the decision.

"Value isn't just determined by an objective reward or outcome,” Collins said. “Our...

https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002201

Berkeley Psychology research challenges common beliefs about gender and sex definitions

December 12, 2023
Lilah Klein and Kenny Ma

Two UC Berkeley Department of Psychology researchers recently published a commentary that provided insights into the way we understand and define gender.

The paper was titled "Trans-inclusive gender categories are cognitively natural" and published in Nature Human Behaviour. In it, Berkeley Psychology professors Steven T. Piantadosi and...

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01657-y

UC Berkeley researchers provide proof of humans in North America during Ice Age

November 13, 2023
Robert Sanders

Geography Professor Dave Wahl UC Berkeley Professor Dave Wahl and Quaternary Paleoecology Lab researcher Marie Champagne co-authored a new paper in Science titled "Independent age estimates resolve the controversy of ancient human footprints at White Sands," which rewrites the history of humans in the...

https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/10/05/tests-confirm-humans-tramped-around-north-a…

UC Berkeley anthropology and public health researchers secure $3.1 million NIH grant to combat dengue fever in Peru

February 23, 2024
By Lilah Klein

UC Berkeley Anthropology Professor James Holston and Public Health immunologist Dr. Josefina Coloma have been awarded a $3.1 million, 5-year grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease of the National Institutes of Health to combate dengue virus in Peru.

The grant will fund “Proyecto Tariki”, a research initiative developed...