http://newscenter.berkeley.edu News from the University of California, Berkeley Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:46:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/06/18/chinese-parenting/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/06/18/chinese-parenting/#comments Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:00:07 +0000 Yasmin Anwar http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34964 Long before Amy Chua’s provocative 2011 memoir,Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, raised the bar for tough-love parenting, psychologists at UC Berkeley were studying the effects of three kinds of child-rearing: authoritarian (too hard), permissive (too soft) and authoritative (combo). Now, with the recent release of Berkeley alumna Kim Wong Keltner’s memoir, Tiger Babies Strike Back, along with other scholarly works and testimonials, the results are in.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/06/18/chinese-parenting/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/05/16/musiccolors/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/05/16/musiccolors/#comments Thu, 16 May 2013 17:00:27 +0000 Yasmin Anwar http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34640 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 somber Requiem in D minor is more likely to be linked to dark, bluish gray. ]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/05/16/musiccolors/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/05/13/your-brain-on-sports/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/05/13/your-brain-on-sports/#comments Tue, 14 May 2013 05:50:25 +0000 Barry Bergman http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34536 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.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/05/13/your-brain-on-sports/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/26/psychologists-emoticons/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/26/psychologists-emoticons/#comments Fri, 26 Apr 2013 19:30:19 +0000 Yasmin Anwar http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34550 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.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/26/psychologists-emoticons/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/24/ten-uc-berkeley-faculty-named-to-american-academy-of-arts-sciences/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/24/ten-uc-berkeley-faculty-named-to-american-academy-of-arts-sciences/#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:17:28 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34527 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.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/24/ten-uc-berkeley-faculty-named-to-american-academy-of-arts-sciences/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/23/ill-gotten-gains/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/23/ill-gotten-gains/#comments Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:00:09 +0000 Yasmin Anwar http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34070 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.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/23/ill-gotten-gains/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/21/brainsearchparty/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/21/brainsearchparty/#comments Sun, 21 Apr 2013 17:00:54 +0000 Yasmin Anwar http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34465 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.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/04/21/brainsearchparty/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/03/20/beyond-academia/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/03/20/beyond-academia/#comments Wed, 20 Mar 2013 16:50:24 +0000 Yasmin Anwar http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34152 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.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/03/20/beyond-academia/feed/ 0 http://www.lbl.gov/LBL-Programs/nanohigh/ http://www.lbl.gov/LBL-Programs/nanohigh/#comments Tue, 19 Mar 2013 18:00:53 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=34225 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."]]> http://www.lbl.gov/LBL-Programs/nanohigh/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/30/research-news-briefs/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/30/research-news-briefs/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2013 21:40:45 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=33888 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.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/30/research-news-briefs/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/28/sleep-memory/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/28/sleep-memory/#comments Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:50:25 +0000 Yasmin Anwar http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=33898 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.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/28/sleep-memory/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/19/sleep-couples/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/19/sleep-couples/#comments Sat, 19 Jan 2013 15:30:47 +0000 Yasmin Anwar http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=33860 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.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/19/sleep-couples/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/18/mom-ceo/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/18/mom-ceo/#comments Fri, 18 Jan 2013 19:00:27 +0000 Yasmin Anwar http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=33862 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.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/18/mom-ceo/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/18/spsp-power-rejection/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/18/spsp-power-rejection/#comments Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:00:17 +0000 Yasmin Anwar http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=33835 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.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/18/spsp-power-rejection/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/16/prize-highlights-young-economists-steady-bold-trajectory/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/16/prize-highlights-young-economists-steady-bold-trajectory/#comments Wed, 16 Jan 2013 22:00:12 +0000 Kathleen Maclay http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=33780 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 [...]]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/16/prize-highlights-young-economists-steady-bold-trajectory/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/10/spsp-new-orleans/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/10/spsp-new-orleans/#comments Thu, 10 Jan 2013 19:00:31 +0000 Yasmin Anwar http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=33777 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. ]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/01/10/spsp-new-orleans/feed/ 0 http://www.berkeleyside.com/2012/12/18/in-memoriam-stephan-jarjisian-loved-and-cherished/ http://www.berkeleyside.com/2012/12/18/in-memoriam-stephan-jarjisian-loved-and-cherished/#comments Wed, 19 Dec 2012 18:10:35 +0000 Public Affairs http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=33719 The 32-year-old psychology student was finishing his doctoral dissertation at the time of last week's fatal motorcycle crash.]]> http://www.berkeleyside.com/2012/12/18/in-memoriam-stephan-jarjisian-loved-and-cherished/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/12/10/conservatives-environment/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/12/10/conservatives-environment/#comments Mon, 10 Dec 2012 17:00:03 +0000 Yasmin Anwar http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=33454 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.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/12/10/conservatives-environment/feed/ 0 http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_science_can_heal_a_divided_electorate http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_science_can_heal_a_divided_electorate#comments Thu, 08 Nov 2012 17:56:27 +0000 Public Affairs http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=33434 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.]]> http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_science_can_heal_a_divided_electorate/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/10/23/cat-color/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/10/23/cat-color/#comments Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:20:54 +0000 Yasmin Anwar http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=33164 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.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/10/23/cat-color/feed/ 0