Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

How do you use psychology persuasion techniques to get people to contribute to your cause?  That's what I discuss in this episode of The Psych Files.  I'm trying to help my friend raise money and in doing so I employed a number of persuasion strategies to get people to help him out and I'm sure these ideas will be helpful to you as well.  We'll look at how Cialdini's ideas can be applied to fundra...

What are psychologists doing watching dancers?  They're trying to get a better understanding of how a dancer's emotions affect the way they move.  These researchers used some sophisticated equipment - including a motion capture apparatus - to analyze exactly how people moved while they were experiencing different emotional states.  I think you'll find what they did and what they found to be quite...

Need to memorize Freud's stages for a test?  Here's a mnemonic that should do the trick.  This is the audio version of video episode 202 in which the founder of psychoanalysis gives you a mnemonic and explains the 5 stages for you.  Make sure to check out these other Psych Files episodes for psychology mnemonics: How to Memorize the Parts of the Brain, How to Memorize Erikson's Eight Stages, and H...

Need to memorize Freud's stages for a test?  Here's a mnemonic that should do the trick.  In this brief video, the founder of psychoanalysis gives you a mnemonic and explains the 5 stages for you.  Make sure to check out these other Psych Files episodes for psychology mnemonics: How to Memorize the Parts of the Brain, How to Memorize Erikson's Eight Stages, and How to Memorize Piaget's Stages of C...

We know that many people have a tendency to blame victims even when something tragic and unexplainable happens to them.  But did you know how easily this blaming can be triggered?  If I were to describe a natural disaster and tell you about "mother nature's wrath" would you be more or less willing to help the victims?  I'll also talk about two common occurrences in adolescence: the imaginary audie...

Thank you so much for listening to The Psych Files  for the past 6 1/2 years.  In this episode I provide a little background on how the podcast started and what has happened as it grew over the years.  It just past 8 million downloads and I want to share a few thoughts on this with you.

How do you create a sense of depth in a flat image?  In this video I'll show you how to use 5 principles of depth perception to turn a flat image into one that looks like it has depth.  I'll be drawing from terms you would learn about in a chapter from a psychology text on Sensation and Perception.  We'll have a little fun exploring how we can use what your brain expects to see to trick it into se...

A lot of people find psychology interesting.  But what is it really like to work in the field?  A tough question to answer because the field is so broad.  In this episode of The Psych Files podcast I'll share my thoughts on the difference between learning about psychology and actually doing psychology as a career.  It's a tough thing to capture because psychologists could spend their day doing psy...

Should we stop using "Guys" to refer to groups of women and mixed sex groups?  Why do we (particularly men) refer to many objects - like cars and boats - as "she"?  Are everyday foods actually "SuperNormal" foods - created to be absolutely irresistible and therefore causing us to be overweight?  Is it okay to employ robot to care for our elderly?  And finally, how come the ending of a movie can "r...

Are jail time and new laws the only answers to men's violence against women, children, and other men?  Or is there something every man can do to end these tragedies?  In an earlier episode of The Psych Files in which I discussed Blaming the Victim, I talked about why there's a tendency to blame victims and to overlook the Optimism Bias that we all share (particularly younger folks).  But podcast l...

Do you need to memorize Piaget's stages for a test?  You've found what you're looking for.  I'll use some familiar mnemonics ("1 is a bun", etc.) and some wacky images to get those stages - and what during them - into your mind.  You'll be able to remember when object permanence occurs, when children are capable of asiimilation and accomdation, abstract and logical thinking, conservation of energy...

What do I/0 psychologists do anyway?  Are you interested in this subfield of psychology?  Well, here are a few things they DON'T do: they don't do "therapy in the workplace" and they don't do "motivational speaking".  It's not what you think.  Industrial/Organizational psychology is practiced by professionals who's goal is to make sure that employees are productive and  - and here's what I'll focu...

There is a lot of talk about mindfulness among psychologists today. Find out what mindfulness is and how it differs from meditation in this episode of The Psych Files.  What might you use mindfulness for?  Well, in addition to what you might expect - reducing stress - mindfulness training is also being used to improve job satisfaction and productivity. Interested in increasing your score on the GR...

What do psychologists really think about your dreams - do they have meaning?  In this episode I talk about what psychologists think today about dreams.  You probably know that Freud thought that dreams had a manifest content (the people and things that happened in the dream that you remember) and a latent content (the unconscious meaning of the dream).  Do we still think this?  Also: can you look...

Would you be surprised to learn that B.F. Skinner was a very likable guy and that you may actually be very much in agreement with his ideas?  Many people who study psychology have a negative impression of Skinner.  Well, I'm about to challenge those impressions by presenting a side of Skinner you probably haven't been exposed to.  In these sound bytes you'll hear his ideas about learning to play m...

Have you ever gotten to immersed in a book or movie that you actually felt like the character?  Or you felt the character's pain or joy?  Why does this happen?  When does this happen?  What is it about the book or the movie and its characters that draws us in like this?  It's amazing isn't it?  To be so moved like this.  Psychologists have studied this experience and we have some ideas regarding w...

We have some great articles covered in this episode so I hope you find them thought-provoking. We cover four topics, all of which can be relevant to your everyday life.  First, a throwback to a previous episode on how to spend your money; experiences only beat out material possessions if they are spent with others. Social settings beat solitary settings every time. Next, did you know a social netw...

Didn't get the flu this past winter?  Thank a psychologist.  What?  Well, it could be that a psychologist was involved in helping health care professionals to do what they know they need to do (but sometimes don't): wash their hands.  The issue here is persuasion and motivation: how to we get people to do something - and keep doing it?  Health care workers like doctors and nurses can fall prey to...

How would you like to have an argument?  Turns out that learning how to have a good argument might just be the best way to learn to think critically.  In this episode I discuss a neat piece of research in which 7 and 8 year olds are taught how to effectively argue. And they do a darn good job of it as it turns out.  Perhaps this is the way to teach our young people  critical thinking: give them so...

Everyone was horrified to hear that an adolescent, Adam Lanza, walked into an elementary school and killed 20 children and 6 adults as well as killing himself.  Many people have offered their view as to what was wrong with Adam and about what we could have done and should do to prevent these incidents.  In this episode I'll share my concerns over what I think is going wrong with community mental h...

Transference and Countertransference are two key concepts in psychoanalysis and they are fascinating.  If you're interested in the therapy side of psychology - particularly psychoanalysis - this is the episode for you.  Kerry Malawista, psychoanalyst and author, along with Anne Adeleman and Catherine Anderson, talks about their new book, "Wearing My Tutu To Analysis".  In this episode we focus on...