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Whether we’re listening to Bach or the blues, our brains are wired to make music-color connections depending on how the melodies make us feel, according to new research from UC Berkeley. For instance, Mozart’s jaunty Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major is most often associated with bright yellow and orange, whereas his dour Requiem in D minor is more likely to be linked to dark, bluish gray.
Tag: psychology
What’s the matter with sports fans?
May 13, 2013:
Author, J-School instructor and sports nut Eric Simons set out on a quest to figure out why he, and millions of other fans all over the world, act the way they do. He gathered his findings in a new book, The Secret Lives of Sports Fans.
Emoticons get more emotional, thanks to Berkeley psychologists
April 26, 2013:
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 package based on a character named “Finch,” inspired by scientist Charles Darwin.
Ten Berkeley faculty named to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
April 24, 2013:
Ten Berkeley professors have been named members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a prestigious 233-year-old honorary society of national leaders from academia, business, public affairs and the humanities.
People care about the source of cash, attach less value to ‘tainted’ wealth
April 23, 2013:
It’s no accident that money obtained through dishonest or illegal means is called “dirty money.” A new UC Berkeley study suggests that when people perceive money as morally tainted, they also view it as having less value and purchasing power, challenging the belief that all money is green, and that people will cross ethical boundaries to amass it.
Lost your keys? Your cat? The brain can rapidly mobilize a search party
April 21, 2013:
A contact lens on the bathroom floor, an escaped hamster in the backyard, a car key in a bed of gravel: How are we able to focus so sharply to find that proverbial needle in a haystack? UC Berkeley scientists have discovered that when we embark on a targeted search, various visual and non-visual regions of the brain mobilize to track down a person, animal or thing.
Ph.D. students rethink the tenure track, scope out non-academic jobs
March 20, 2013:
Traditionally, the holy grail for doctoral students has been a professorship at a prestigious university. But in a sign of changing times, many Ph.D. students are now seeking jobs outside higher ed. Enter “Beyond Academia,” a career conference organized by Ph.D. students and postdocs.
Attention high schoolers: March 23 talk on “survival of the kindest”
March 19, 2013:
UC Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner is the next speaker (Sat., Mar. 23, 10 a.m.) in the Nano-High series of talks sponsored by Berkeley Lab. Any high school student or teacher can sign up online and drop in to hear about cutting-edge scientific issues of the day. Keltner’s talk is titled “The Compassionate Instinct: A Darwinian Tale of Survival of the Kindest.”
Research News Briefs
January 30, 2013:
Research News Briefs: The star-nosed mole is helping researchers discover touch and pain receptors in humans. / The Keck Foundation is funding a project to insert tiny magnets into cells to make them easy to track with magnetic resonance imaging. / Feelings of awe make people more generous.
Poor sleep in old age prevents the brain from storing memories
January 28, 2013:
The connection between poor sleep, memory loss and brain deterioration as we grow older has been elusive. But for the first time, UC Berkeley scientists have found a link between these hallmark maladies of old age. Their discovery opens the door to boosting the quality of sleep in elderly people to improve memory.
Poor sleep can leave romantic partners feeling unappreciated
January 19, 2013:
A UC Berkeley study looking into how sleep habits impact gratitude has found that sleep deprivation can leave couples “too tired to say thanks” and can make one or the other partner feel taken for granted.
When mom is the CEO at home, workplace ambitions take a back seat
January 18, 2013:
It’s often said that women can have it all – motherhood and a successful career. But a new UC Berkeley study suggests that women who rule the household have less energy for or interest in being a rising star in the workplace.
Powerful people better at shaking off rebuffs, bonding with others
January 18, 2013:
Employees often tiptoe around their bosses for fear of offending them. But new UC Berkeley research shows people in power have thicker skin than one might think.
Prize highlights young economist’s steady, bold trajectory
January 16, 2013:
BERKELEY — UC Berkeley economist Ulrike Malmendier could have chosen any number of career paths. After all, she speaks six languages, is fascinated with Latin and Greek, and loves physics and math. While working on a Ph.D. in law, another focus of her eclectic interests, she took a modern-economics course and that changed everything. Malmendier set off to explore the [...]
Top psychologists to present research on sleep, awe and more at ‘Big Easy’ conference
January 10, 2013:
Poor sleep can sour relationships. Powerful people are better at shaking off rebuffs. Moms who run the household are less concerned with rising to power in the workplace, and people who gaze at the vastness of nature tend to be less self-centered. These are among several intriguing findings UC Berkeley psychologists will be presenting at this week’s annual meeting of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology in New Orleans.
In memoriam: Berkeley grad student Stephan Jarjisian
December 19, 2012:
The 32-year-old psychology student was finishing his doctoral dissertation at the time of last week’s fatal motorcycle crash.
Conservatives can be persuaded to care more about the environment, study finds
December 10, 2012:
When it comes to climate change, deforestation and toxic waste, the assumption has been that conservative views are intractable. But new research from UC Berkeley suggests that such opinions can be changed with messages couched in terms of fending off threats to the “purity” and “sanctity” of Earth and our bodies.
How science can heal a divided electorate
November 8, 2012:
In the aftermath of President Obama’s re-election, how can Republicans and Democrats work together? Jason Marsh of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center interviews Righteous Mind author Jonathan Haidt on psychological differences that fueled the election’s partisan divide — and what we can do to overcome it.
Don’t be so fast to judge a cat by its color, study warns
October 23, 2012:
Just like humans, domestic cats are often judged by their color, and the media and folklore help perpetuate these stereotypes. Take the snobbish, aloof, white kitty who promotes Fancy Feast cat food, and spooky images of black cats, which can be associated with bad luck and witches, especially around Halloween. A new UC Berkeley study warns that typecasting cats according to their color can negatively affect adoption rates at shelters.
Fox squirrels show long-term investment savvy when hoarding nuts
October 3, 2012:
Researchers at UC Berkeley are gathering evidence this fall that the feisty fox squirrels scampering around campus are not just mindlessly foraging for food, but engaging in a long-term savings strategy. Humans could learn something about padding their nest eggs from these squirrel diversification efforts. Of course, with squirrels, it’s not about money, but about nuts.
Girls with ADHD more prone to self-injury, suicide as they enter adulthood
August 14, 2012:
Girls with ADHD, and their families, often look forward to a decline in visible symptoms, such as fidgety or disruptive behavior, as they mature. However, new UC Berkeley findings caution that, as they enter adulthood, girls with histories of ADHD often nternalize their struggles and feelings of failure – a development that can manifest in self-injury and even attempted suicide.
Visiting scholar, killed in bike accident, remembered on blog
July 16, 2012:
Friends and colleagues of Shlomo Bentin are posting tributes to the life and contributions of noted Israeli psychologist on a new blog. Bentin, a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley, died in an accident near campus on Friday, July 13.
Q&A: Alison Gopnik on babies and learning
June 20, 2012:
Best-selling author Alison Gopnik, a professor of psychology, discusses her research and UC Berkeley’s long history of focusing on how children learn. She and colleagues recently formed the Center for Developmental Cognitive Science to model the next generation of artificial intelligence on principles gleaned from children’s ability to learn rapidly, explore and reason
Freecycling has viral effect on community spirit and generosity, study shows
May 29, 2012:
Reinforcing that the best things in life are free, a new UC Berkeley study shows that online freebie-exchange communities such as “Freecycle” and “Couchsurfing” foster greater team spirit among their members than do cash-for-goods websites.
Highly religious people are less motivated by compassion than are non-believers
April 30, 2012:
“Love thy neighbor” is preached from many a pulpit. But new research from UC Berkeley suggests the devoutly religious are less motivated by compassion when helping a stranger than are atheists, agnostics and less religious people.
Media Advisory: Therapy dogs to give “fur fix” to students facing finals
April 26, 2012:
As UC Berkeley students study for final exams, pet therapy dogs from Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) will visit campus to relieve students’ stress.
uok? Text messages — even automated ones — can soothe the disconnected soul
April 9, 2012:
Text messaging often gets a bad rap for contributing to illiteracy and high-risk behavior such as reckless driving. But a Berkeley social-welfare professor has found an upside to texting, especially for people who feel stressed out, isolated and alone.
The girl who feels no pain
March 29, 2012:
To understand how the brain works, a good approach is to look at what happens when parts of the brain malfunction. On the student blog “Psych Your Mind,” doctoral candidate Amie Gordon describes three intriguing neurological disorders.
Scientists tap the genius of babies and youngsters to make computers smarter
March 12, 2012:
People often wonder if computers make children smarter. UC Berkeley scientists are asking the reverse question: Can children make computers smarter? And their answer appears to be ‘yes’ as they tap the cognitive smarts of babies, toddlers and preschoolers to program computers to think more like humans.
Berkeley psychologists get into the heads of schoolchildren
March 8, 2012:
UC Berkeley psychology professors Silvia Bunge and Stephen Hinshaw are scanning the brains of kids to learn how they learn. The findings may help educators and revolutionize classrooms.
