N-ACT: Neurobehavioral affective control training
Sheri Johnson, Professor
Psychology
Closed. This professor is continuing with Spring 2025 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Fall 2025.
Emotional dysregulation is an underlying risk factor for many mental health disorders. Two common ways it shows up in people’s lives are rumination and emotion-related impulsivity, which are linked to deficits in cognitive control. The Neurobehavioral Affective Control Training (N-ACT) project focuses on testing a novel cognitive training program that combines executive control practice with emotion regulation strategies. N-ACT involves eight sessions where participants complete executive control tasks (“brain-training” exercises) while viewing emotionally charged images – that aim to strengthen their emotional working memory and response inhibition – and receive psychoeducation on how to regulate their emotions.
The goal of this study is to use cognitive and cognitive-behavioral training to promote better emotion regulation.
Role: Primary duties
Apprentices will be responsible for running in-lab experimental sessions by administering surveys and cognitive tasks, debriefing the participants, and ensuring they stay on track. RAs will also have the opportunity to gain experience with maintaining research databases, managing and analyzing quantitative data, engaging with psychology-based software used in cognitive training interventions, and contributing to literature reviews and manuscript preparation. Through this experience, apprentices will gain insight into the clinical research process and learn about the relationships between cognition, emotion, and impulsivity.
Qualifications: • Interest in clinical, cognitive, or affective science research
• Strong organizational and communication skills
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Prior research experience is a plus but not required
• Must be able to commit to 9-10 hours per week for at least one semester
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Pearl Weybach and Aditi Sharma, Staff Researcher
Hours: 9-11 hrs
Off-Campus Research Site: 2121 Berkeley Way West
Related website: https://calm.berkeley.edu/
Social Sciences Education, Cognition & Psychology