J.D. Warren

Research suggests the happiest introverts may be extraverts

If you are an introvert, force yourself to be an extravert. You’ll be happier. That’s the suggestion of the first-ever study asking people to act like extraverts for a prolonged period. For one week, the 123 participants were asked to – in some cases – push the boundaries of their...

By J.D. Warren | September 16, 2019 | Social Science / Education

UC Riverside climbs in Washington Monthly rankings

In its 2019 ranking of top national universities, Washington Monthly magazine has named UC Riverside No. 27 among all institutions, and No. 16 among public universities. UCR was No. 28 in 2018. Washington Monthly also ranked UCR second best in the nation in how well its low-income students perform. UCR’s...

By J.D. Warren | August 26, 2019 | University

Latest rankings place UCR at No. 12 among U.S. colleges

UC Riverside jumped 20 places — to No. 12 in the U.S. and No. 9 among public universities — in a prestigious college ranking list published annually by Money magazine. As the trend of shifting formulas among the top rankings lists continues, Chancellor Kim Wilcox said UCR’s stature as a...

By J.D. Warren | August 12, 2019 | University

Demolition makes way for student housing expansion

The first of more than 150 buildings was claimed by a wrecker on Monday, July 22, at a shuttered housing complex that will become the site of a massive student housing expansion at UC Riverside. The razing of the 50-acre, World War II-era housing complex that came to be known...

By J.D. Warren | July 22, 2019 | University

Alzheimer's gene may impact cognition before adulthood

A gene linked to Alzheimer’s disease may impact cognitive health much sooner than previously realized. The APOE gene creates a protein, apolipoprotein E, which packages cholesterol and other fats to transport them through the bloodstream. There are three versions, or alleles, of APOE. One of those is the APOE4 allele,...

By J.D. Warren | July 18, 2019 | Social Science / Education

Older adults: Daunted by learning a new task? Learn three

Learning several new things at once increases cognitive abilities in older adults, according to new research from UC Riverside. UCR psychologist Rachel Wu says one important way of staving off cognitive decline is learning new skills as a child would. That is, be a sponge: seek new skills to learn;...

By J.D. Warren | July 17, 2019 | Social Science / Education

‘You All Look Alike to Me’ is hard-wired in us

You often hear it framed in a comic sense, though it’s a form of stereotyping, and even prejudice. “You all look alike to me.” To one race, the tired adage implies, people in other races are tough to differentiate from each other. Some call it the “other-race effect.” It’s something...

By J.D. Warren | July 4, 2019 | Social Science / Education

An 'awe-full' state of mind may set you free

An induced feeling of awe, or state of wonder, may be the best strategy yet for alleviating the discomfort that comes from uncertain waiting. Kate Sweeny’s research explores the most excruciating form of waiting: the period during which one awaits uncertain news, the outcome of which is beyond one’s control....

By J.D. Warren | June 21, 2019 | Social Science / Education

New York Times analysis notes UCR's student success

The New York Times and Urban Institute compared similar colleges in determining which schools are exceeding student success expectations - and which schools aren't meeting them.

By J.D. Warren | May 29, 2019 | University

'Falling out of love' led to record-breaking tennis career

A shift from soccer to tennis jostled Kyle McCann's Irish footballer-father, but a storied UCR career affirms it was the right move.

By J.D. Warren | May 28, 2019 | Students

UCR, Riverside schools push back against pollution

A grant recently awarded to the Riverside Unified School District and UC Riverside will provide a high school curriculum that addresses air quality, in a region that is among the worst polluters in the country. The grant is for $1.19 million and is from the National Science Foundation, or NSF....

By J.D. Warren | May 13, 2019 | Social Science / Education

Campbell family gives $10 million to UC Riverside

The gift from the mother-daughter philanthropists is tied for the largest ever to the university from individual donors

By J.D. Warren | May 8, 2019 | University

UC Riverside study busts myths about gossip

A first-of-its-kind UC Riverside study asserts that women don’t gossip negatively more often than men, lower income people don’t gossip more than more wealthy people, and younger people are more likely to gossip negatively than their older counterparts.

By J.D. Warren | May 3, 2019 | Social Science / Education

UC Riverside scores another big win in college rankings

UC Riverside climbed 37 places in the most recent Forbes magazine rankings, from No. 64 to No. 27.

By J.D. Warren | May 1, 2019 | University

UCR student researcher takes smoking personally

You don’t want Careen Khachatoorian for a sister. Not if you smoke, you don’t. Careen’s older brother is trying to conceive a child with his partner. A typical text to her smoker-brother includes a link to a sins-of-smoking article, and reads like this: “See? Pregnant mothers have a greater chance...

By J.D. Warren | February 21, 2019 | Students, Science / Technology

Romantic partners help us see silver linings, study says

We’re often told we are responsible for our own happiness. But in challenging situations, a UC Riverside study not only demonstrates the benefits of positive reframing – finding a “silver lining” – but also suggests our partners can be more adept at finding that silver lining than we are. A...

By J.D. Warren | February 14, 2019 | Social Science / Education

Fathers are happier parents than mothers, new study shows

A study of 18,000 people shows that fathers experience more well-being from parenthood than mothers. Past studies have considered whether people with children have greater well-being than people without children. They do. But few have considered the relative happiness of fathers and mothers. UCR psychologists and their colleagues analyzed three...

By J.D. Warren | January 30, 2019 | Social Science / Education

'Most women don't use a mic'

Courtney Baugh is planning her vegetable garden. Green beans, beets, definitely cucumbers. And she’d like to plant an orange tree, and an apple tree — the kind that yield fruit the moment they’re planted. She’s also going to install an 8-foot privacy fence in her back yard, to keep out...

By J.D. Warren | January 23, 2019 | Students

When the world took notice

The course is named “Seminar in Social Psychology,” but it could be “Wednesdays with Bob.” At 85, Robert Rosenthal is in his last year teaching at UC Riverside. Distinguished Professor David Funder — who first worked with Rosenthal at Harvard University in the early 1980s — urged Rosenthal to host...

By J.D. Warren | December 11, 2018 | Social Science / Education

Tetris: It could be the salve for a worried mind

Tetris could be the salve for a worried mind. The venerable video game was used in a recent experiment to create a state of “flow” – the term psychologists use to describe a state of mind so engaged it makes the rest of the world fall away, and time pass...

By J.D. Warren | October 26, 2018 | Social Science / Education

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Content Authored by: J.D. Warren