Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

A humorous way to learn about the Freudian defense mechanisms (actually elaborated by Anna Freud) of Displacement, Denial, Sublimation, Reaction Formation, and Projection.  A little dream analysis thrown in.  Who knows?  Maybe Freud would have been good at tech support... 

What was the name of that baby in John Watson's famous videos in which he attempts to demonstrate that fears can be acquired through conditioning (pairing a loud noise with a furry animal)?  A few years ago we were presented with information indicating that a boy named Douglas Merrite was the true identity of "Little Albert".  The data looked pretty convincing at that time.  However, a few pieces...

How many times have you wanted to remember a joke at a party but you just can't?  Well, there IS a way to remember jokes and I have got 4 jokes to tell you along with a mnemonic that will help you remember all 4 of them.  I challenge you to listen to these 4 jokes, then listen to my mnemonic and then wait a little while and go through the mnemonic and I guarantee that you'll remember all 4 jokes....

You may have heard that Facebook manipulated the content of user's New Feeds during January of 2012 so that some users saw more positive posts than others, which other Facebook users saw more negative posts.  How did this affect these users?  Did those who say negative posts become more negative and vice versa?  The answer is that the research indicates that some of them - though a very, very few...

In episode 217 I asked you to be frank with yourself: does your animal really think?  It's easy to believe they do, but if you're going to study this issue scientifically you have to eliminate our human tendency to anthropomorphize - to want to believe that animal actions are motivated by internal states.  Well, here's a roundup of a few articles I found in my PsycExplorer app (PsycExplorerHD for...

Surveys find that psychologists tend to align themselves with a liberal political orientation.  Why is that?  Are liberal-minded people drawn to human service professions or is there something about working in human services that causes people to become more liberal in their political views?  In this episode I propose a few ideas that I think explains why mental health professionals tend to be on...

Guess what?  There are a good number of positives to growing older.  Let's put aside all the negative stereotypes of older folks and realize that they can demonstrate a surprising level of "coolness" about life.  There's a certain perspective you get when you're older that's enviable.  Older folks have passed many of life's challenges and they can look back with satisfaction.  But they also can ha...

It's easy to find videos on the web of animals showing what appears to be some pretty smart behavior. But is it really "smarts"?  How can you tell? In this episode I'll point out examples that look like intelligence but probably aren't - as well as an example of animal behavior that is really hard to dismiss as anything but "smarts".  In doing so we'll talk about the behavioral principle of "chain...

How can you find the best videos on YouTube?  In this video episode of The Psych Files you are going to learn some crazy power tips that will alert you whenever whenever a video from a credible source gets added to a YouTube playlist.  You will be the first to know.  And you can find out not only by receiving an email, but - if you want - you can also get a phone call when that video is ready for...

The idea of working from home sounds great - but be aware of the downside.  In this episode of The Psych Files I talk about what factors influence your job satisfaction and motivation when you work from home.  I also discuss the interesting concept of "emotional labor" - what is it like when you know your boss is watching you and judging whether you are "acting happy" to customers?  What's the cos...

Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a patient in an "insane asylum"?  "Asylums" changed names over the years (including "State Hospital" and "Psychiatric Center") and so did the treatment o fate mentally ill.  Hear from Dr. Jennifer Bazar how we went from chaining people up to hydrotherapy to sexual surgery and finally to what is called "moral treatment".  A fascinating walk down the his...

We all know that adolescence is a time of change and often a tough time for the teen.  But what about the parent?  Today's parents are often older than years ago, and today's parents are sometimes going through their own self-examination, their own doubts, their own exploration.  What happens when you bring those two together?  Sometimes a lot of yelling frankly.  In this episode I talk about the...

We don't have to pay you to get you to do things - you're already a curious person.  How does our attraction to puzzles, questions, and unsolved mysteries get used to get us to click on videos or blog posts?  And how can it be used to get students to want to learn?  You'll find out that there are ways to get students excited about learning without having to pay them and there are ways to attract p...

What are the psychological themes in the movie the Matrix?  In this episode I talk about connections between the Matrix and Jung's idea of the Collective Unconscious, Joseph Campbell's notion of the Hero's Journey and some recent research that explains why you experience Déjà vu.  Also, can you change your whole world by thinking differently about it?  Let's find out what psychologists (well at le...

We face more moral "dilemmas" in everyday life than maybe we realize.  How do we resolve them?  In this episode I discuss two interesting moral dilemmas: a) should you employ for-hire crowds of actors to attend your event in order to make it look like you're more popular that maybe you really are? and b) should you place your advertisements on web and print pages in such a way that they don't real...

Need to memorize Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development really quickly?  This is what you're looking for - a brief audio podcast in which I give you some crazy images that will stick in your mind for a really long time.  You'll be surprised at how quickly you'll have the six stages memorized.  Some of my listeners have actually said that the mnemonics have stuck in the stuck in their head...

In this actual fake recording we hear how Freud might have handled your call to an anonymous technical support service.  Can you identify each of the following Freudian techniques in this episode?

The elaboration likelihood model is complicated name for a not too complicated idea.  In this under 2 minute video I explain the key idea.  

Would you believe there's a lot of psychology you can fit into a 6 second vine?  Well there is.  In this video episode I show you a few of there vines I like and which are also good (unintended) demonstrates of a variety of psychological concepts.  I think you'll have fun with this one.

Its time to hear from someone who has been diagnosed with autism what life is like.  Alex Lowery joins us to talk about growing up with autism - about the heightened sensations, the frustrations of not being understood and what has helped him get to where he is today.  At 20, Alex gives talks about his life.  I think you'll get some fascinating insights. 

In this interview with Paul Brodie, author of Secondhand Autism, we talk about what it is like to grow up in a family with an autistic individual.  As you can imagine, there are challenges, but ultimately there lessons to be learned about life. Listen to what Paul has to say about his brother Scott and to what it was like for Paul, his siblings and his parents - what they sacrificed and how they g...