Why We Do What We Do

We are adding a new format of rerunning old episodes and updating the research and adding discussion points. Enjoy a nostalgic return to WWDWWD 5 years ago plus our updated discussion. Back at this time, we didn't have recommendations. So Shane and Abraham added some. Abraham: Schitt's Creek (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3526078/) Shane: Buy your friend's book Become a supporter of this podcast: h...

Hair: A weird thing humans have weaponized, leverages, and used many culturally unique and important ways. There's actually a million things to say about this, but we took on the race angle in this conversation. This is a very brief history about afro-textured hair; when the racism and discrimination started, how far it has came, and how much more education and understanding we need. Recommendatio...

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-we-do-what-we-do--3419521/support . Support our podcast: www.patreon.com/wwdwwdpodcast

We recorded this discussion before the court officially overturned Roe v. Wade. But we decided to record this because of the leaked draft that happened in May. What is the science and psychology of abortions? We do our best to unpack this, but we will admit now our bias in favor of women's rights. Recommendations Abraham: Planned Parenthood (https://www.weareplannedparenthoodaction.org/onlineactio...

Plagiarism is a serious offense that is unfortunately prevalent throughout academia and in other professional domains. While it has been universally determined to be poor professional practice, like any problem behavior it demands a closer analysis from a behavioral perspective. This episode will explore the unique circumstances under which plagiarism in its many forms may occur, and how we might...

One of the theories that put psychology into the mainstream was Psychoanalysis, or Freudian psychology. We review the history of Freud and the development of psychoanalytic theory/therapy and the subsequent divide. We also spend a little time on the theory itself, you know, in case you repressed the memory of learning it in school. Recommendations - Abraham: The Whatnot Cabinet from Pencil First G...

Special guest Saundra Bishop joins us to lend her expertise and experience with how Behavior Analysts can take a trauma-informed approach to their work with all people. We also talk about the foster system and the demands that parents face every day. Recommendations Abraham recommended a tile-placing pattern puzzle game, The Whatnot Cabinet ( https://www.pencilfirstgames.com/the-whatnot-cabinet/)...

Behavioral and psychological "freedom" are couched more empirically inside of the concept of freedom from restriction and coercion, and the natural boundaries and contingencies of everyday circumstance and evolutionary trajectory. That is, freedom might mean freedom from restrictive policy and there is some stuff that we just can't biologically do. Also, freedom for one at the cost of freedom for...

We all use the term colloquially. But what does "freedom" mean? There is freedom in the biological sense, political sense, psychological sense, and many more. We start exploring the various definitions of freedom and what it is not. Recommendations Abraham: Green Chef (https://chef.greenchef.com/plans?&&gclid=Cj0KCQjwyYKUBhDJARIsAMj9lkFj4xreW0R-5AGnSheMF525zNS3VPFfBJ5t43_6GWBd3660OSxVb0EaA...

Today’s episode concludes our discussion about what people believe when they don't believe. We ask and answer the question what we believe happens when we die, as well as polling our patreon supporters. Atheists categorically reject the existence of gods and the practice of obeying any sort of higher power. Abraham defends the idea that atheism and agnosticism are the same. Shane makes some beauti...

Today’s episode discusses religion, but rather the lack thereof. Atheists categorically reject the existence of gods and the practice of obeying any sort of higher power. How does this develop? Where do they generate their morals from without a bible, torah, Quran, etc? While religion has united people around the world in admittedly prosocial and enriched ways, it has influenced others to commit u...

Like astrology and psychics, online personality tests generally use the Barnum effect to trick you into thinking they have something meaningful to say. They're tricksy like that. But they have also been used for extremely nefarious reasons, and in one instance, an implementation that lead to the beginning of the end of democracy in America. Also, we take some personality tests in real time. Recomm...

English, particularly American English, is not only a weird hodgepodge of many other languages and cultures from around the world and at different times, but it is also full of expressions and sayings that, without context, sound like nonsense gibberish. Why do we say these things? What do they mean? And where do these sayings come from? Strap in because we are all in the same boat as we paint the...

Most people sat through a painful routine performance appraisal, likely an annual one. How many of these are effectively designed to be productive? How many people actually remember what they were supposed to work on from that last review in the fall right before the chaos of the holidays? If done correctly, an appraisal can identify help performance improve as well as highlight employee achieveme...

Horoscopes are mostly harmless bits of fun. But how do they work? Why do we believe them? And why does the episode title imply harm? Learn more and another vocab term. Recommendations: Abraham recommended the exercise phone case: Tribe Water Resistant Cell Phone Arm Band (https://www.tribefitnessusa.com/products/armband) Shane recommended the new film adaptation of Dune (https://www.dunemovie.com/...

This is the episode to make you want to snack. Or maybe want to hurl if you had talk of chewing. We investigated the reason crunchy food is so appealing to us. Why do we NEED the crunch? Turns out, there are some interesting answers! Tell us about your favorite crunchy food. Abraham recommended the Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Lover's Chocolate Bar (https://www.sweetontraderjoes.com/2021/07/trader-...

We expand on the environmental processes that create a context for depression. We elaborate on the pros and cons of the "diagnosis" of depression and how a behavior analyst would approach a client with depression. Listen in for part 2! Recommendations Abraham: Upload Season 2 (https://www.amazon.com/Upload-Season-2/dp/B09J1LD25Y) Shane: Drug Church - Hygiene (https://drugchurch.bandcamp.com/album/...

Depression is a major mental health diagnosis and concern worldwide. A variety of treatment options have been developed by many disciplines, but a behavior analytic alternative has yet to enter the mainstream. Today’s episode will offer a behavior analytic interpretation of depression as it related to behavior patterns and contingencies, and offer a basis of treatment that could produce positive o...

Is exercise good for your mental health? A lot of people certain think so. We dig into the research and philosophy about if exercise is mentally healthy and if so, how? Recommendations - Abraham: Space Force Season 2 (https://www.netflix.com/title/81021929) - Shane: Integrity - Howling, For the Nightmare Shall Consume (https://integrity.bandcamp.com/) References and Links - https://www.ncbi.nlm.ni...

The majority of people who buy into conspiracy theories are victims of fraud. Unfortunately, they can become zealous, proselytizing mouthpieces for those conspiracies, which makes them unsympathetic to many. Conspiracies primarily work by exploiting human biases and insecurities. Listen in to find out more about why your weird friend is dedicated to their crystals and mythological beliefs. Recomme...

Doulas and midwives aren't necessarily the crunchy granola hippies you might think they are. They also don't need to be female. We invited expert and certified doula Dr. Ashley Greenwald to talk to us about what doulas are and why every person preparing to a birth should have a doula around. Recommendations: Salena: "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander (https://newjimcrow.com/) and "Even the R...

William James, or Billy Jilly as we called him in this discussion, is often referred to as the father of modern psychology. Indeed, his writings and philosophy were instrumental in the orientation to psychology that made it a science. If you didn't know or didn't remember much about him, this is a great revisit of who he was. Also, it is likely that his accomplishments overshadow those of other be...

We are joined by special guests Dr. Andre Bulla and Oscar Turcios who share their continued adventure training wolves on a reserve. We invited them on after a conference presentation in which they described their experiences testing for concept learning in wolves, learning about wolves, and traveling during pandemic. It all started with a bottle of bourbon. Listen in to hear their story about trai...

Munchausen By Proxy, or Factitious Disorder Imposed on another (FDIA) is (somewhat) assumed to affect 1,000 of the 2.5 million cases of child abuse reported annually, although there are disputes regarding incidence rates because of the difficulty to recognize and diagnose. Some say it could be much more common. 93% of FDIA cases the abuser is the mother or female guardian/caregiver. This disorder...

Turns out the method of persuasion we have all grown to love being on the receiving end of, condescending lectures and rhetorical questions, might not be the most effective way of connecting with someone and helping them change their mind. Motivational interviewing is not only a non-combative counseling style, it is also a strategy for being a good listener. You have probably heard something about...