psychology

two grayish white birds with red beaks, one with orange cheeks

Research

Finch chirps are more than mindless chatter. They actually convey meaning.

A UC Berkeley study shows that when zebra finches hear the call of another zebra finch, they have a mental representation of its meaning — they understand what they're hearing.

Research

New psychology study suggests chimpanzees might be rational thinkers

dacher keltner portrait over a blue background

Awards

Dacher Keltner, UC Berkeley psychologist, receives prestigious lifetime achievement award

three side-by-side headshots of Melike M. Fourie, Emiliana Simon-Thomas and Allison Briscoe-Smith

Mind & body

Berkeley Talks: How forgiveness changes you and your brain

Students point toward poster paper on the wall during an exercise about the ways to better understand chronic absenteeism among students.

With high schoolers’ help, UC Berkeley researchers investigate why so many students are chronically absent

illustration of a person leaning against a tree writing in a journal

Science of Happiness: How to feel hope in a time of uncertainty

A person's hand writing a list of items on a piece of paper next to boxes that will be checked off.

In search of a way to improve humans’ faulty memories and bad habits

a simple continuous line drawing of a face that suggests the many dimensions of a person's personality

Psychopathic personality is measured with a 1970s checklist. A Berkeley psychologist says it’s time to upgrade.

headshots of 7 people in circles against a dark blue background

Seven faculty members named fellows of American Association for the Advancement of Science

line drawing of a woman with eerie-looking ghosts coming out the back of her partially missing head

Berkeley Voices: We learn what to fear. Can we unlearn it?

an illustration of a woman walking among trees in a wintery scene

Science of Happiness: How to find calm through walking

Two monkeys sit on a branch, with one looking disapprovingly toward the other.

Do animals get jealous like people? Researchers say it’s complicated.

a pink brain sits inside a topless model of a human skull, with yellow bars indicating where a hand is slapping it

Watch a UC Berkeley neurologist explain how concussions really work

UC Berkeley professor of psychology looks at a still frame from the Pixar film 'Inside Out 2'

UC Berkeley professor breaks down the science of ‘Inside Out 2’

Berkeley Voices: Psychopathy goes undetected in some people. Why?

The White House in Washington D.C. at night, illuminated with lights and with a fountain in the foreground shooting water into the air.

Anxious about the election? UC Berkeley psychologists explain how to cope

All psychology