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Using Self-Compassion to Reduce Negative Self-Talk
You are likely your own harshest critic. Cultivating self-compassion can soften your inner critic, boost your mood, and improve your outlook.
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How Can You Help Your Child During Stressful Times?
As the world adjusts to multiple difficult stressors, children will likely need increased support to process these changes and manage their emotions. Here’s how you can be there for children’s emotional needs!
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Obedience, Power, and Violence
Is an ordinary person capable of committing heinous acts? After the Holocaust (1941-45), many questioned how Nazi soldiers were capable of such senseless murder. Did it take a certain type of person, or did there exist situational factors that enabled their behavior? This historical moment inspired a series of influential psychological studies. Milgram’s Electric Shock…
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The Role of Gratitude in Wellbeing
Unlike earlier psychological work which focused on treating mental illness, positive psychology is a relatively new field that studies the making of a good life building upon the humanistic movement (recall Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs). It officially became a domain of psychology in 1998 when Martin Seligman deemed it the American Psychological Association’s annual theme.…
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Memory Malfunctions: A Discussion of Research on False Memory
Your memory may not be as accurate as you think. Decades of research on false memory have revealed several instances when memories can be inaccurate or even fabricated.
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Can your microbiome really influence your mental health?
Recently, everyone’s interested in the gut-brain connection and how the gut microbiome may influence mental health. But what do we actually know about links between gut bacteria and depression/anxiety and the pathways through which the bugs in our guts exert their influence?
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Flashcards: Are you using them effectively when learning?
Flashcards are often recommended as a way to help students prepare for exams. However, do students use this study tool in an effective way?
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Sleep and Inflammation During Adolescence
This article is authored by Brandon Williams and Danny Rahal and is part of the 2020 pre-graduate spotlight week. Adolescence is a period marked by significant biological and social changes, including pubertal changes and greater responsibility. In turn, many adolescents struggle to maintain a regular sleep schedule and do not get the recommended 8 to…
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What Makes a Bully? Looking into the Parent-Child Relationship
This article is authored by Minna Sarwar and Danny Rahal and is part of the 2020 pre-graduate spotlight week. Bullying has always been a negative but pervasive facet of childhood, and rates are highest during adolescence. In fact, one study reports that up to 30% of teens disclose being victims of bullying (Salmivalli &…
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Tips for being a Pre-Med Psychobiology Student
This article was authored by Selam Mulugeta and Danny Rahal as part of the 2020 pre-graduate spotlight series. It is no secret that many students at UCLA are pre-med. When I first started at UCLA, I was convinced that there was a formula for being the ideal pre-med student. After four years of undergrad and…