I joined the psychology faculty at California State University San Marcos in the fall of 2017 after completing my Ph.D. in General Experimental Psychology (social concentration) at Virginia Commonwealth University. My program of research broadly focuses on how people respond to others in need and show kindness to one another. Specifically, I adopt a multimethod social cognitive and affective (neuro)science approach to examine the role of attention and deliberate cognitive processes (e.g., mindfulness meditation) in enhancing empathy and kindness. Alongside neuroscientific techniques, our lab uses diary measures and lab-based simulations to capture social behaviors in everyday life, and self-report methodologies.
2017 - Ph.D., General Experimental Psychology (social concentration), Virginia Commonwealth University (Dissertation)
2011 - M.A., Experimental Psychology, East Tennessee State University (Thesis)
2008 - B.S., Psychology, Christopher Newport University
Research Lab information coming soon.
course titles are hyperlinks to most recent syllabi
*denotes student trainee
Berry, D. R., *Hoerr, J. P., *Cesko, S., *Alayoubi, A., *Carpio, K., *Zirzow, H., *Walters, W., *Scram, G., *Rodriguez, K., *Beaver, V. (2020)., Does mindfulness training without explicit ethics-based instruction promote prosocial behaviors? A meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. [IF: 4.38]
Klein, R. A., Vianello, M., Hasselman, F., Adams, B. G., Adamns, R. B., Alper, S...(13th Author) Berry, D. R....Nosek, B. A., (2018). Many Labs 2: Investigating Variability in Replicability across Samples and Settings. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Sciences, 1(4), 443-490. https://doi.org/10.1177/2515245918810225 [New Journal, No IF]
Berry, D. R., Cairo, A. H., Goodman, R. J., Quaglia, J. T., Green, J. D., & Brown, K. W. (2018). Mindfulness increases prosocial responses toward ostracized strangers through empathic concern. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. 147(1), 93-112. doi: 10.1037/xge0000392 [IF: 4.91]
Berry D. R., & Brown, K. W. (2017). Transcending separateness with presence: How mindfulness catalyzes intergroup harmony. In J. C. T. M. Karremans & E. Papies (eds.). Handbook of Mindfulness in Social Psychology. NY: Routledge
Brown, K. W., Berry, D. R., & Quaglia, J. T. (2016). The hypo-egoic expression of mindfulness in interpersonal life. In K. W. Brown & M. R. Leary (eds.). Oxford Handbook of Hypo-egoic Processes. NY: Oxford University Press.
Berry, D. R., (Chair), & Kiken, L. (Co-Chair) (2018, May). Mindfulness and its training promote positive interpersonal outcomes. Symposium accepted to the 30th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Berry, D. R., & Grajalva R. (2018, May). Mindfulness promotes intergroup prosociality. In D. R. Berry (Chair) & L. Kiken (Co-Chair), Mindfulness and its training promote positive interpersonal outcomes. Symposium accepted to the 30th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Berry, D. R., & Brown, K. W. (2016, November). The inherent kindness of presence: Brief mindfulness training catalyzes prosocial responses across social lines. Paper presented at the International Symposium for Contemplative Studies, San Diego, CA, USA.
Brown, K. W., & Berry, D. R. (2016, June). From me to we: The hypo-egoic expression of mindfulness insocial life. Symposium presented at the 6th International Conference on Self-Determination Theory, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Brown, K. W., Berry, D. R., & Cairo, A. H. (2015, February). Mindfulness enhances empathy and prosociality toward victims of social exclusion. Symposium presented at the 16th Annual Meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Long Beach, CA, USA.
Berry, D. R., Colwell, K., & Sellers E. W. (2012, September). Single-trial classification of error-potentialsincreases P300 brain-computer interface information transfer rate. Symposium presented at the 2012 Joint Annual Meeting of Electroencephalography and Clinical Neuroscience, Bristol, TN, USA.
*Radloff, A. R., *Wall, C. S. J., *Johnston, J., & Berry, D. R. (March, 2018). Mindfulness mediation training modulates electrocortical and behavioral indicators of interracial prosociality. Poster accepted to the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
*Raldiris, T. L., Berry D. R., Brown, K. W., & Britton, W. B. (March, 2018). How do focused attention vs. open monitoring meditation training compare in emotion regulation effect? An Event-Related Potential study. Poster accepted to the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Athlanda, GA, USA.
Berry, D. R., *Bustamante, D., & Brown., K. W. (November, 2017). Electroencephalographic evidence that mindfulness training dampens emotion sharing but increases approach orientation toward racial outgroup members’ distress. Poster presented at the 47th Annual Meeting of Society for Neuroscience, Washington D.C., USA.
*Armanyous, M., Brown, K. W., & Berry, D. R. (April, 2017). Dispositional mindfulness predictsinteracial helping behavior. Poster presented at the VCU Undergraduate Research Symposium, Richmond, VA, USA.
*Calfat, A., *Fields, C., *Schramm, J., *Lee, M., *Anderson, J., *Bustamante, D., *Curran, L., *Tubbs, J., Brown, Brown, K. W., & Berry, D. R. (April, 2017). Mindfulness dampens emotion sharing and promotes empathy in interracial contexts. Poster presented at the VCU Undergraduate Research Symposium, Richmond, VA, USA.
*Lytle, S., *Boparai, A., *Tubbs, J., Brown, K. W., & Berry, D. R. (April, 2017). Deconstructing division: Mindfulness meditation promotes in vivo helping behavior. Poster presented at the VCU Undergraduate Research Symposium, Richmond, VA, USA.
Moloney, J. M., Berry, D. R., & Green, J. D. (January, 2017). The impact of trait mindfulness on state shame and social self-esteem. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Antonio, TX, USA.
*Wall C. J., *Plonski, P. E., Berry, D. R., & Brown K. W. (2016, April). Promoting prosocial responsiveness across racial divides through mindfulness. Poster presented at the VCU Undergraduate Research Symposium, Richmond, VA, USA.
*Tubbs, J. D., Berry, D. R., & Brown, K. W. (2016, April). Abating prejudice with presence:Dispositional mindfulness increases interracial helping behavior. Poster presented at the VCU Undergraduate Research Symposium, Richmond, VA, USA.
*Clements, S., Griffin, B. J., & Berry D. R., Garthe, R., Worthington, E. L., jr. (2016, April). Who intervenes in bullying situations? Mindfulness and the role it plays in bystander behavior. Poster presented at the VCU Undergraduate Research Symposium, Richmond, VA, USA.
Berry, D. R., Brown, K. W., Cairo, A. H., & *Plonski, P. E. (2015, October). Transcending social boundaries with presence: Brief mindfulness training increases prosocial responsiveness toward dissimilar others. Poster presented at the 37th Annual Conference for the Society of Southeastern Social Psychologists, Winston Salem, NC, USA.
Goodman, R. J., Brown., K. W., West, T. N., Quaglia, J. T., & Berry, D. R. (2015, September). Uncertainty during anticipation increases late positive potential amplitude elicited by unpleasant emotional stimuli. Poster presented at the 55th Annual Meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
*Easter, R., Moloney, J. M., Berry, D. R., Konstantinou, N., Panagiotou, G., & Vrana, S. R. (2015, April). Attention and automatic facial processing in individuals with social anxiety. Poster presented at the VCU University Undergraduate Research Symposium, Richmond, VA, USA.
Berry, D. R., Hensel, A. K., Green, J. D., & Brown, K. W. (2014, April). Prosocial orientation in a state of present-centered attention: Mindfulness induction enhances empathy and affiliative behaviors toward victims of social exclusion. Poster presented at the Inaugural Meeting of the Society for Affective Science, Washington D.C., USA.
*Kumar, A. K., Berry, D. R., & Cairo, A. K. (2014, April). Mindfulness buffers exclusion related distress. Poster presented at the VCU Poster Symposium for Undergraduate Research and Creativity, Richmond, VA.
Our research program: Perspectives on the motivated naure of empathy and prosocial behavior are key to understanding the role of focused attention in prosocial responsiveness. Others' suffering is often painful to observe or may lead to cognitive, affective, or social costs for the self. So people downregulate their empathic reponses to others, for example, by diverting their attention away from empathy inducing stimuli or situations. Within this line of inquiry our lab addresses three research questions.
What is the role of focused attention in prosocial cognition and behavior? Our lab has several ongoing projects to address this question. (1) We are examining how empathy unfolds during the course of a social interaction through the lens of event-related potentials (an EEG marker). Research assistants who are interested in this project will receive training in establishing and monitoring high quality EEG recording, deliver and design experimental protocols, and design computer software paradigms to elicit brain responses. (2) Our lab is interested in individual differences in life experiences with suffering and how this relates to upregulation or downregulation of empathy. (3) We also conduct several experiments on self-regulation technique in focused attention called mindfulness meditation. These latter two research questions are addressed via experiments conducted remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, and research assistants will receive training in delivery and design of experimental protocols and recruiting participants.
Research assistants and graduate students are included at all stages of the research process. Dr. Berry encourages graduate students and research assistants to form their own programmatic interests. Research questions on social cognitive and affective neuroscience, prosocial emotion and behaviors, mindfulness training and other forms of deliberate attention, intergroup processes, and meta-science are all encouraged!
The SAP Lab is fortunate to have a dedicated, hard-working research team, and we are looking to expand! Scroll down for more details on applying to the lab, but first read about our team.
Former SAP Lab Trainees
Graduate Students: Dr. Berry generally accepts one or two graduate students each academic year. However, he does not plan to interview graduate students for Fall 2022 entry into the MA program in Psychololgical Science. Qualities of a successful student include a commitment to conducting careful research on one or more of the following topics: mindfulness, empathy, compassion, prosociality, intergroup relations, social neuroscience, social threat. Background in EEG/ERP and Matlab (or other programming language) is a plus! Prospective students may find this information about our graduate program helpful when applying. Please contact Dr. Berry directly (drberry@csusm.edu) for more information about graduate study in the SAP Lab.
Research Assistants: The SAP Lab is committed to the education and training of undergraduate and postbaccalaureate students; we depend heavily upon your hard work to complete lab studies. Our current research is focused on the role of deliberate attention in empathy and kindness. We use a multimethod approach in the lab to research these topics including EEG, behavioral, daily diary, and subjective responses. Getting involved as a volunteer or PSYC 498/499 student is a great way to see if psychological science is the right career path for you. As part of your training, we host workshops to help you gain admission into psychology graduate programs, medical school, and other professional training programs. The SAP Lab accepts new researchers each semester and carries between 10 - 15 students in total. Each research assistant is given the opportunity to help with 1 - 2 projects a semester, and are offered a variety of tasks to choose from. Students can serve as experimenters, record and process psychophysiological (EEG) data, code and analyze data, conduct literature searches and related tasks for meta-analyses, and even design and lead their own studies. If you are interested in the lab, please apply!.
