Highlighting Faculty Member Jaime Castrellon
Date published: 04/01/25
What drives people to make certain decisions—and why do motivations vary? My lab studies the cognitive and neural mechanisms of motivation and value-based choice. We are especially interested in how people weigh costs and benefits in decisions that impact themselves and others.
Prof. Montoya Appointed to Center for Open Science Board of Directors
Date published: 03/31/25
Congratulations to Associate Professor Amanda Montoya for being appointed to the Center for Open Science (COS) Board of Directors. She will serve a three-year term from 2025 to 2027. More information is available at the COS website.
Highlighting Faculty Member Falk Lieder
Date published: 02/07/25
How can psychological science better inform altruistic efforts to improve society and the lives of future generations? I strive to contribute to the theoretical foundations for such research by asking fundamental questions about rationality and altruism, as well as moral decision-making and moral learning.
Psychology Staff Spotlight Award – Destiny Ramirez
Date published: 01/24/25
Prof. Galván Delivers New TED Talk
Date published: 01/06/25
Professor and Dean of Undergraduate Education Adriana Galván recently delivered a new TED talk about what we can learn from teenagers. The talk titled “3 reasons to take risks like a teenager” is available at https://www.ted.com/speakers/adriana_galvan
Congratulations to Kaia Sargent for winning the Student Poster Award
Date published: 11/08/24
Congratulations to Kaia Sargent (Behavioral Neuroscience Area) for winning the Student Poster Award (poster title “Brain-body dysconnectivity: Deficient autonomic regulation of cortical function in first-episode schizophrenia”) at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research in Prague.
Congratulations to Wesley Meredith and to Haley Wang for receiving American Psychological Foundation Graduate Research Scholarships.
Date published: 11/08/24
Congratulations to Wesley Meredith (Developmental Area) and to Haley Wang (Clinical Area) for receiving American Psychological Foundation (APF)/Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology (COGDOP) Graduate Research Scholarships. The purpose of the scholarship program is to assist graduate students of psychology with research costs associated with the master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation.
Prof. Izquierdo Receives National Award of Excellence in Mentorship
Date published: 10/24/24
Congratulations to Professor Alicia Izquierdo for receiving the 2024 National Award of Excellence in Mentorship from the National Hispanic Science Network. The award is presented to a senior investigator who has provided outstanding mentorship in the area of Hispanic drug abuse to graduate students and/or new investigators, resulting in peer-reviewed publications or successful grant applications.
Prof. Brannon Receives Wegner Theoretical Innovation Prize
Date published: 10/18/24
Congratulations to Associate Professor Tiffany Brannon for receiving the Daniel M. Wegner Theoretical Innovation Prize from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology for her article titled “Pride-and-Prejudice Perspectives of Marginalization Can Advance Science and Society.” The award recognizes the author of an article or book chapter judged to provide the most innovative theoretical contribution to personality and social psychology within a given year.
Congratulations to Ashley Harris (Clinical Area) and Gifty Ayawvi (Clinical Area) on being selected to participate in one of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundations leadership programs
Date published: 10/09/24
We are proud to announce that Ashley Harris (Clinical Area) and Gifty Ayawvi (Clinical Area) have been selected to participate in one of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s leadership programs. These programs connect changemakers across the country—from diverse professions and fields—to learn from and work with one another in creating more just and thriving communities.
To learn more about Health Policy Research Scholars and RWJF’s other leadership programs, and to meet other participants, visit www.healthpolicyresearch-scholars.org
Prof. Montoya Receives SAGE Early Career Trajectory Award
Date published: 10/07/24
Congratulations to Associate Professor Amanda Montoya on receiving a SAGE Early Career Trajectory Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. The award recognizes outstanding achievements by early career scholars in personality and social psychology, including contributions to teaching, research, and/or service to the field.
Welcome first year graduate students!
Date published: 10/01/24
Prof. Holyoak Selected as Faculty Research Lecturer
Date published: 10/01/24
Congratulations to Distinguished Professor Keith Holyoak on being selected as one of two faculty who will present a Faculty Research Lecture for the 2024–25 academic year. His lecture titled “Intelligence, Creativity, and Consciousness in Humans and (Perhaps) Machines” will be held on Friday, October 11 at 2-3:15pm in Schoenberg Hall, with a reception to follow until 4:30pm. Registration is required at the following link: Register for the 137th Faculty Research Lecture
Highlighting Faculty Member Yi Feng
Date published: 09/26/24
There are often gaps between the various research questions that psychology researchers seek to investigate and the availability of proper statistical tools that can effectively address them. My work is dedicated to closing these gaps by developing innovative statistical tools that can be applied to increasingly complex applied research scenarios.
Psychology Staff Spotlight Award – Sarah Rodriguez
Date published: 09/18/24
Prof. Lau Receives 2024 James S. Jackson Memorial Award
Date published: 07/11/24
Congratulations to Professor Anna Lau for receiving the 2024 National Institute of Mental Health James S. Jackson Memorial Award. Established in 2021, the award honors outstanding researchers who have demonstrated exceptional achievement in minority mental health and mental health disparities research, community engagement, and mentorship.
2024 UCLA Psychology Graduate Hooding Ceremony
Date published: 07/09/24
Congratulations to the 41 participants who participated in the Psychology Graduate Hooding Ceremony! We wish our students much success in their futures!
Congratulations to Amalia Ionescu (Developmental Area) and Icy (Yunyi) Zhang (Developmental Area) for receiving the 2024 Millard Madsen Distinguished Dissertation Award
Date published: 07/02/24
Amalia Ionescu (Developmental Area) and Icy (Yunyi) Zhang (Developmental Area) for received the 2024 Millard Madsen Distinguished Dissertation Award. The award, which recognizes the best developmental dissertation, is typically awarded to one student annually. This year, the award committee chose to honor two dissertations. Amalia’s dissertation is titled “Analogical Reasoning Involving Semantic Relations in Children and Machines.” Icy’s dissertation is titled “From the Lab to the Classroom: Effects of Embodied Pedagogies on Students’ Learning of Statistical Concepts.”
Congratulations to Ben Isenberg (Clinical Area) for being selected by the Pritzker Committee for Excellence to receive the fifth annual Pritzker Graduate Scholar Award
Date published: 07/02/24
Ben Isenberg (Clinical Area) was selected by the Pritzker Committee for Excellence to receive the fifth annual Pritzker Graduate Scholar Award. The Pritzker Graduate Scholar Award is intended to support graduate students in the Department of Psychology who demonstrate excellence in the conduct of psychological science with the potential for high public impact.
Congratulations to the Class of 2024!
Date published: 07/02/24
Forty-two doctoral candidates earned their Ph.D., and 1,500 undergraduates received degrees in Psychology, Psychobiology, and Cognitive Science.