Psychology

COVID Lockdown Disrupted Preschoolers’ Social Skills, Trailblazing Research Shows

January 29, 2025

Lockdowns. Social distancing. Shuttered schools and businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic and its sweeping disruptions set off a stampede of “what it’s doing to us” research, focused largely on schoolchildren. How were students’ academics affected? Their mental health? Their...

Psychological Sciences Ph.D. student Maria Ramirez Loyola is working to understand why some people are better equipped than others to handle stressful experiences.

Grad Student Seeks Key Characteristics to Resiliency

From a young age, Maria Ramirez Loyola has been fascinated by the trait of resiliency. Her mother escaped an abusive marriage and fled from Mexico to the U.S. with two small children in tow....

Professor Eric Walle with Penelope and her mom, Jessica Mohatt, in a scene from the new Netflix docu-series "Babies."

New "Babies" Series on Netflix Features UC Merced Professor's Research on Development

Psychology Professor Eric Walle found something interesting when he studied babies who were walking compared to those who were crawling: Babies who walk are not only more mobile, they have...

Rural Poverty and Health Summit to Feature UC Merced Health Leaders

UC Merced health experts will join other Central Valley medical leaders on Friday, Nov. 22, for the Rural Poverty and Health Equity Summit in Delano. Professor Nancy Burke, chair of the...

Visiting Behavioral Economist Honored with Distinguished Cognitive Scientist Award

Imagine blending economics, psychology, and neuroscience to pioneer new ways to think about human behavior. Behavioral economist Colin Camerer does just that and was honored as the recipient of...

Cognitive Scientist Shows How Culture Shapes Personality Traits

Complex societies produce people with more varied personalities. That’s the surprising finding of a cognitive science study that attempts to understand how people develop into who they are:...

Overdose, Suicide Among Leading Reasons for Postpartum Maternal Deaths

Overdoses and suicides were among the most common reasons for mothers dying within a year of giving birth in California, according to a new study published this week. Psychiatric epidemiology...

Soon-to-be Graduate Taps into Diverse Opportunities for Growth at UC Merced

Graduating senior Araceli Perez was looking for a new environment when she moved from Hacienda Heights to attend UC Merced in 2015. The shift from the high-intensity region of Los Angeles to the...

Picture This: Migrant Farmworkers’ Daughter Turns UC Merced Grad

When Anna Ocegueda walks across the stage at UC Merced’s 2019 commencement, it will be not only a powerful moment for her, but for her family, too — and for the thousands of people who...

Ph.D. students Craig Ennis and Vicky Espinoza visited Sacramento with Vice Provost and Graduate Dean Marjorie Zatz to speak with lawmakers about the contribution of graduate research to California's development.

Graduate Students Make a Case for Research at Capitol

Two UC Merced Ph.D. students took to the State Capitol yesterday with representatives from the other UC campuses to advocate for the importance of the research being done across California. Craig...