Learning & Behavior Change Lab

Behavioral interventions motivate action to address climate change

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Dani Cosme, Kirsten Lydic, Diego A. Reinero, José Carreras-Tartak, Michael E. Mann, Emily B. Falk

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, vol. 122(20), 2025 May 20, pp. e2426768122

Instructed motivational states bias reinforcement learning and memory formation

Alyssa H. Sinclair*, Yuxi C. Wang*, R. Alison Adcock

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, vol. 120(31), 2023 Aug 1, pp. e2304881120

Prediction errors disrupt hippocampal representations and update episodic memories

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Grace M. Manalili, Iva K. Brunec, R. Alison Adcock, Morgan D. Barense

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, vol. 118(51), 2021 Dec 21, pp. e2117625118

Pairing facts with imagined consequences improves pandemic-related risk perception

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Shabnam Hakimi, Matthew L. Stanley, R. Alison Adcock, Gregory R. Samanez-Larkin

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, vol. 118(32), 2021 Aug 10, pp. e2100970118

Emerging frontiers in infectious disease modelling: reassessing the data-driven feedback loop between human behaviour and disease dynamics

Mallory J. Harris*, Alyssa H. Sinclair*, Giulia Pullano*, Stephen J. Beckett*, Leah LeJeune*, Folashade B. Agusto, Chris T. Bauch, Cynthia Baur, Henri Berestycki, Jonathan Dushoff, Quentin Griette, Simon A. Levin, Jorge X. Velasco-Hernández, Jianhong Wu, Joshua S. Weitz

Royal Society Open Science, vol. 13(6), 2026, p. 260369

Red, blue, and morally alike: Moral reframing of climate change works when we don't make incorrect assumptions

Diego A. Reinero, Alyssa H. Sinclair, Danielle Cosme, Emily Falk

PsyArXiv, 2026 Jun 24

Personalized feedback about immunity corrects risk misestimation and motivates vaccination

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Morgan Taylor, Stephen J. Beckett, Aroon T. Chande, Joshua S. Weitz, Gregory R. Samanez-Larkin

PNAS Nexus, 2026 Jun 20, pgag227

Pausing to reflect during news consumption counteracts negativity biases in memory

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Abigail Hsiung, Rachael Wright, Shabnam Hakimi, R. Alison Adcock

PsyArXiv, 2026 May 28

Motivating and supporting youth to vote using theory-driven approaches

Danielle Cosme, Kirsten Lydic, Diego A. Reinero, Alyssa H. Sinclair, Emily B. Falk

Social and Personality Psychology Compass, vol. 19, 2025 Nov 7, pp. e7010110

Co-designing get-out-the-vote messaging with youth increases message effectiveness

Kirsten Lydic, Omaya Torres-Grillo, Julia Levine, Sophia Lee, Paula Vekker, Pètra de Beer, Lyan Casamalhuapa, Alyssa H. Sinclair, Emily B. Falk, Danielle Cosme

PsyArXiv, 2025 Nov 5

Impoundment of funds endangers US investment in science and medical research

Joshua S. Weitz, Mallory J. Harris, Alyssa H. Sinclair, Jeremy M. Berg

Nature, vol. 592, 2025 Sep 16

Reply to Loh and Ren: Motivating action among climate change believers

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Danielle Cosme, Kirsten Lydic, Diego A. Reinero, Michael E. Mann, Emily B. Falk

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, vol. 122(36), 2025 Sep 3, pp. e2515426122

Communicating the economic impact of science funding cuts changes attitudes and motivates action

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Mallory Harris, Danielle Cosme, Angela Fagerlin, Ellen Peters, Clio Andris, Colin L. Cooke, Emily B. Falk, Joshua S. Weitz

PsyArXiv, 2025 Aug 4

Economic loss due to health funding cuts as distributed across geospatial units

Mallory J. Harris, Alyssa H. Sinclair, Clio Andris, Joshua S. Weitz

MedRXiv, 2025 Jul 24

Reply to Dablander et al.: Identifying interventions that change intentions lays a valuable foundation for behavior change.

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Dani Cosme, Kirsten Lydic, Diego A. Reinero, Michael E. Mann, Emily B Falk

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, vol. 122(8), 2025 Jul 15, pp. e2513159122

Affective framing of environmental news headlines influences engagement, donations, and memory

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Danielle Cosme, José Carreras-Tartak, Emily B. Falk

PsyArXiv, 2025 Jul 8

Action planning interventions to promote individual and collective climate action

Kirsten Lydic, Alyssa H. Sinclair, Danielle Cosme, José Carreras-Tartak, Emily B. Falk

PsyArXiv, 2025 Jun 28

NIH indirect cost cuts will affect the economy and employment.

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Mallory J. Harris, Clio Andris, Danielle Cosme, Ellen Peters, Angela Fagerlin, Emily B. Falk, Joshua S. Weitz

Nature Human Behaviour, 2025 Jun 2

Behavioral interventions motivate action to address climate change

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Dani Cosme, Kirsten Lydic, Diego A. Reinero, José Carreras-Tartak, Michael E. Mann, Emily B. Falk

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, vol. 122(20), 2025 May 20, pp. e2426768122

Perceived self and social relevance of content motivates news sharing across cultures and topics

Danielle Cosme, Hang-Yee Chan, Alyssa H. Sinclair, Christian Benitez, Kirsten Lydic, Rebecca E. Martin, Anthony Resnick, José Carreras-Tartak, Nicole Cooper, Alexandra M. Paul, David Koelle, Jennifer McVay, Emily B. Falk, Christin Scholz

PNAS Nexus, vol. 4(2), 2025 Jan 23, pgaf019

First impressions or good endings? Preferences depend on when you ask

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Yuxi C. Wang, R. Alison Adcock

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, vol. 153(10), 2024 Sep 9, pp. 2588-2604

Memory and belief updating following complete and partial reminders of fake news

Paige L. Kemp*, Alyssa H. Sinclair*, R. Alison Adcock, Christopher N. Wahlheim

Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, vol. 9(28), 2024 May 7

Communicating COVID-19 exposure risk with an interactive website counteracts risk misestimation

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Morgan K. Taylor, Freyja Brandel-Tanis, Audra Davidson, Aroon Chande, Lavanya Rishishwar, Clio Andris, R. Alison Adcock, Joshua S. Weitz, Gregory R. Samanez-Larkin, Stephen J. Beckett

PLoS ONE, vol. 18(10), 2023 Oct 5, pp. e0290708

Instructed motivational states bias reinforcement learning and memory formation

Alyssa H. Sinclair*, Yuxi C. Wang*, R. Alison Adcock

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, vol. 120(31), 2023 Aug 1, pp. e2304881120

Scenario-Based Messages on Social Media Motivate COVID-19 Information Seeking

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Morgan K. Taylor, Audra Davidson, Joshua S. Weitz, Stephen Beckett, Gregory R. Samanez-Larkin

Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, vol. 13(1), 2023 Apr 27, pp. 124-135

Reasons for Receiving or Not Receiving Bivalent COVID-19 Booster Vaccinations Among Adults

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Morgan K. Taylor, Joshua S. Weitz, Stephen Beckett, Gregory R. Samanez-Larkin

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 72(3), 2023 Jan 20, pp. 73-75

Prediction errors disrupt hippocampal representations and update episodic memories

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Grace M. Manalili, Iva K. Brunec, R. Alison Adcock, Morgan D. Barense

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, vol. 118(51), 2021 Dec 21, pp. e2117625118

Pairing facts with imagined consequences improves pandemic-related risk perception

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Shabnam Hakimi, Matthew L. Stanley, R. Alison Adcock, Gregory R. Samanez-Larkin

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, vol. 118(32), 2021 Aug 10, pp. e2100970118

Imagining a personalized scenario selectively increases perceived risk of viral transmission for older adults

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Matthew L. Stanley, Shabnam Hakimi, Roberto Cabeza, R. Alison Adcock, Gregory R. Samanez-Larkin

Nature Aging, vol. 1, 2021 Aug 5, pp. 677-683

Closed-minded cognition: Right-wing authoritarianism is negatively related to belief updating following prediction error

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Matthew L. Stanley, Paul Seli

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, vol. 27, 2020 Jul 27, pp. 1348-1361

Intellectual Humility and Perceptions of Political Opponents

Matthew L. Stanley, Alyssa H. Sinclair, Paul Seli

Journal of Personality, vol. 88, 2020 Jun 2, pp. 1196-1216

Prediction Error and Memory Reactivation: How Incomplete Reminders Drive Reconsolidation

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Morgan D. Barense

Trends in Neurosciences, vol. 42(10), 2019 Sep 7, pp. 727-739

Surprise and destabilize: Prediction error influences episodic memory reconsolidation

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Morgan D. Barense

Learning & Memory, vol. 25(8), 2018, pp. 369-381