Speaking of Psychology

In just a few years, psychedelics have gone from being a symbol of the 1960s counterculture to being touted as highly promising mental health treatments. Dr. Albert Garcia-Romeu, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University, talks about whether the research backs up the hype; the state of psychedelic therapy research for PTSD, depression, addiction and other mental health disorders; how psychedelics work in t...

Hypnosis is more than just a stage trick. Psychologists and other researchers have found that it can be useful in treating pain, anxiety, and a range of other physical and mental health problems. David Patterson, PhD, of the University of Washington, talks about what’s happening in people’s bodies and brains when they’re hypnotized, whether anyone can be hypnotized, the differences between stage h...

What makes for a good life? What makes for a happy life? Marc Schulz, PhD, associate director of the 85-year-old Harvard Study of Adult Development, talks about what researchers have learned from the world’s longest scientific study of happiness about relationships, money, success and what really leads to a happy life.  For more information and transcripts visit Speaking of Psychology. Learn more...

Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed by all your stuff? If so, you're not alone. In recent years, a thriving decluttering industry has sprung up to help us deal with our ever-accumulating piles of things. Dn. Joseph Ferrari, PhD, of DePaul University, talks about why we accumulate so much stuff and why we find it so hard to deal with it, what the research says about clutter, stress and anxiety, and t...

Being a parent can be tough these days. Dozens of books and articles offer competing answers to questions from how to help siblings get along to how much screen time is too much, and every decision you make feels important. It's no wonder that many parents feel tired, stressed, and unsure of whether they're doing a good job. Tim Cavell, PhD, and Lauren Quetsch, PhD, authors of Good Enough Parentin...

These days, most of us live our lives tethered to our computers and smartphones, which are unending sources of distraction. Research has shown that over the past couple of decades people’s attention spans have shrunk in measurable ways. Gloria Mark, PhD, of the University of California Irvine, talks about how the internet and digital devices have affected our ability to focus, why multitasking is...

Up to 4% of people in the U.S. have bipolar disorder, but as common as this mood disorder is, it is also often misunderstood. Psychologist and researcher David Miklowitz, PhD, and writer and mental health advocate Terri Cheney talk about what it’s like to live with bipolar disorder; how it’s diagnosed; and what researchers have learned about effective treatments including therapy and medication. L...

All day, every day, we have to make decisions, from what to have for breakfast to how to spend our money to whether to evacuate ahead of a hurricane. Psychologists’ research is helping us understand why people make the decisions they do, from trivial choices to life-and-death ones. Decision scientists Lace Padilla, PhD, and Hannah Perfecto, PhD, discuss why people make bad decisions, how even smal...

Almost everyone lies occasionally, but for a small percentage of people, lying isn't something that they do every once in a while -- it's a way of life. Drew Curtis, PhD, of Angelo State University, and Christian L. Hart, PhD, of Texas Woman’s University, authors of a new book on pathological lying, talk about what drives “big liars” to lie, why they believe pathological lying should be classified...

Specific phobias – such as fear of heights, needles, flying or spiders – affect up to 13 percent of people at some point in their lives. Clinical psychologist Dr. Martin Antony, PhD, of Toronto Metropolitan University, talks about the difference between a fear and a phobia, where phobias come from, what the most common phobias are, and the effective therapies and strategies that can help people ov...

The things that we own can be central to our identity, part of how we see ourselves and how other people see us. Russell Belk, PhD, of York University, talks about the role our possessions play in our lives; what drives collectors to collect items as disparate as stamps, art and Pez dispensers; how the word “possessions” can encompass physical, digital and even completely intangible items; and how...

Super-recognizers have an extraordinary ability to recognize faces—they can pick faces they’ve seen only briefly out of a crowd and can recognize childhood acquaintances they haven’t seen in decades. Josh Davis, PhD, a professor of applied psychology at the University of Greenwich, and super-recognizer Kelly Desborough discuss the origins of this ability, why you can’t train yourself to be a super...

Just in time for toy-buying season, Barry Kudrowitz, PhD, a toy designer and professor of product design at the University of Minnesota, and Doris Bergen, PhD, a professor emerita of educational psychology at Miami University in Ohio, discuss the psychology of toys. What makes something a good toy? Why do some toys stand the test of time while others fizzle out after one season? How has technology...

Nearly three years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, millions of Americans are still living with the effects of the virus. Neuropsychologists Tracy Vannorsdall, PhD, and Rowena Ng, PhD, talk about the cognitive and mental health symptoms of long COVID, what treatments are available, and the most pressing questions that researchers need to answer to get help to patients who need it. Links Tracy Va...

Our life experiences shape the way that our brain processes sound, and sound is deeply intertwined with everything from our ability to read to our cognitive health as we age. Dr. Nina Kraus, of Northwestern University, talks about why we undervalue our sense of hearing; why musicians, athletes and bilingual people often have superior sound-processing abilities; why sound is crucial to language and...

From kindergarten through college, very few students are taught a crucial skill set – how, exactly, to study effectively. Regan Gurung, PhD, and John Dunlosky, PhD, authors of “Study like a Champ: The Psychology-based Guide to “Grade A Study Habits,” talk about the biggest studying myths, which study techniques work and which don’t, and why finding studying difficult can be a sign that you’re doin...

Are you suffering from news overload? Do you find yourself doomscrolling when you should be sleeping, eating, playing with your kids or doing your job? Do you feel hounded by algorithms that keep sending you more bad news? Media psychologist Don Grant, PhD, and Markus Brauer, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin, discuss why it’s so hard to shut off the news spigot and what you can do to cope with...

More Americans than ever before are single -- about half of American adults are unmarried and close to three in 10 are not in a committed relationship. Geoff MacDonald, PhD, of the University of Toronto, talks about how relationship status is related to well-being, whether there is a societal stigma against singles, and why there is so much more research on being in a happy relationship than there...

Questions of fairness, justice and morality might seem unique to humans. But research suggests that non-human animals notice inequality as well. Dr. Sarah Brosnan, of Georgia State University, talks about how non-human primates and other animals react to unfair situations, why we humans care so much about fairness, and how studying non-human animals can help us better understand how our human sens...

Apologies have the potential to heal relationships, soothe hurt feelings and even begin to address historical wrongs. But they’re not always easy to offer. Karina Schumann, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh, discusses why apologies matter, what makes for a good, effective apology and what makes for a bad one, whether women really do apologize more than men, what to do when someone wants to apol...

Over the past few years, the number and variety of cannabis products legally available to American consumers has soared. Ziva Cooper, PhD, of the UCLA Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoids, talks about how researchers are exploring both the potential health benefits and the risks of marijuana, CBD and more, aiming to make sure that the science keeps up with policy changes and the evolving marketpla...

When relationship issues arise -- around money, fidelity, kids or even just coping with the stress of everyday life -- couple therapists can help partners work through them together. Couple and family psychologist Anthony Chambers, PhD, talks about how couple therapy works, when it’s useful, when couples are most likely to break up, and why it’s helpful to think of talking with your partner as a g...

We all know the feeling of scrambling at the last minute to finish a task that we could have and should have tackled much sooner. Fuschia Sirois, PhD, of Durham University, talks about why procrastination is an emotion regulation problem, not one of laziness or poor time management skills; how it can harm our mental and physical health; why it’s so tied up with guilt and shame; and how self-compas...

Americans have become accustomed to tragic headlines of mass shootings in schools, grocery stores and other public places – these shootings still shock, but they no longer surprise. Jillian Peterson, PhD, of Hamline University, talks about research on what drives most mass shooters, why thinking of mass shootings as suicides as well as homicides can suggest new ways to combat them, and what can be...

Psychologists’ research has found that it’s not the nuances of policy debates that drive voter behavior but instead how voters feel about candidates and political parties -- and whom they trust to share their values. Drew Westen, PhD, of Emory University, talks about how emotions drive our political behavior, what makes for an effective political speech or ad campaign, and what role political mess...