Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

Interested in psychology? How about gaming? Did you know that these two fields actually go together quite well? Find out how two people with strong backgrounds in both of these fields are putting their experience to work creating games that educate and that provide players with experiences that really help us understand more about mental health. In part 1 of this two part episode we talk about games and their application to psychology. I think you're really going to enjoy it.

We live in a time when facts are being questioned, and when respect for each others' differences is on the decline. How often do we say to ourselves: "Yea, but what can I do about it?". Actually, with a little psychology maybe you can turn things around. In this episode I interview someone who's doing just that: Patrice Jones. He's a marketing VP and he recently created a video on his own time that he hopes will remind viewers - be they New England Patriot's fans or not - that we all share a commitment to basic human values like equality and dignity. If we are to keep those values alive we need to be vigilant. See how Patrice is combining a little psychology with his skills as a marketer to develop empathy and a shared sense of the larger group to which we all belong.

The involuntary removal of a passenger on a United Airlines flight has justifiably garnered a lot of attention. And as teachers we certainly want to capture students' attention. But how do we create a discussion among students that goes beyond the simple shock value of showing the video? In this episode I talk both about the connections to psychology and about a series of new books that describe ways - simple ways - that teachers can create powerful, critical thinking, discussions in their classrooms.

Have to memorize lines for a play or musical? There are a lot of techniques. Let me tell you about a few that are backed by science. I've been involved in the theatre for many years and I've done a lot of memorizing of both lines and song lyrics. Typically, actors and singers use repetition - and don't get me wrong - that works, but there are other ways to get those lines into your head. Ever heard of interleaving? How about using the Method of Loci (often called the Memory Palace) to memorize the sequence of an entire play? Impossible? Nope. Let's take a look.

It's hard to remember names - here's how to do it. You'll use your imagination and some weird imagery - but this works. Here's another great use of mnemonics. I'll give you a bunch of people's names and describe the images I created to help me remember them. Give your brain a little room to roam and put it to practical use. Also, I look at recent research that provides yet another reason why names are hard to remember. By the way, let me ask you a question: How many of each animal did Moses take on the ark? The answer: 0 (re-read the question...). I also take a look at that viral video called the "BBC Interrupted Interview". What's the psychology behind why many people thought the woman in the video was a nanny when she was the mother. We'll see how stereotypes develop. #psychology #memory #stereotypes

The Psych Files is a podcast for anyone who wonders why we do what we do. Experienced educator Michael Britt, Ph.D., in an upbeat and friendly style, shows you how ideas from the field of psychology apply to everyday life. If you are a life-long learner, a student or a teacher, you will find his 20-30 minute episodes enjoyable and educational. Over 14 million episodes have been downloaded to date with over 100,000 people listening every month. See what all the talk is about!

The Psych Files is a podcast for anyone who wonders why we do what we do. Experienced educator Michael Britt, Ph.D., in an upbeat and friendly style, shows you how ideas from the field of psychology apply to everyday life. If you are a life-long learner, a student or a teacher, you will find his 20-30 minute episodes enjoyable and educational. Over 14 million episodes have been downloaded to date with over 100,000 people listening every month. See what all the talk is about!

Complete strangers in New York City come together in a simple but moving act: they decide as a group to work together to remove offensive graffiti in a subway car. How did they overcome the social pressures to do nothing? In this episode I show how diffusion of responsibility, Modeling, the Big Five personality types and Social Identity theory were at play in this simple but wonderful few minutes on a subway car. 83rxtpfp

One reason stereotypes exist is because, sometimes, there's some truth in them. As an Italian-American I can say that, yes, a lot of the times I use my hands when I talk. And it appears to be true that men think about sex more often and are more easily sexually aroused (in general). So what do we do with these findings? Do we throw up our hands and say, "Boy will be boys"? Or do we decide that we're going to change ourselves - one little step at a time.

Have you used Siri, Hey Google, Aleza or Cortana? These voice-enabled digital assistants are pretty cool and getting smarter, but why do some of them sound more like a "person" than others? What is it about your voice that makes people believe that there is a thinking human being behind it? In this episode I take a look at a research study called "Mistaking Minds: How Speech Affects Dehumanization and Anthropomorphism" to uncover what it is about a voice that makes it more likely that you'll anthropomorphize it into a real human being?

There are a lot of mobile apps that include the term "psychology" but many of them are just for fun. Are there any really good apps for psychotherapists? Yes there are and one of them is called NovoPsych. In this episode I interview Dr. Ben Buchanan who is the creator of NovoPsych and he tells us how the app would be used in a clinical setting. The first in a series of interview highlighting solid, credible apps that people seriosly interesting in psychology will want to check out.

The US just had a very contentious election which showed us, if nothing else, that we are a divided nation. How did we become this way? In this episode I talk about group polarization - how it happens and what we can do about it. Along the way, I'll talk about Moral Reframing - and idea researched by Robb Willer and the idea of "emotional correctness" that Sally Kohn suggests is the way that she, a gay woman, is able to get along in a very conservative workplace. The wonderful You Are Not So Smart blog has a great article on how we can better argue when we know we're talking with someone who is on the "opposite side of the fence" politically. #psychology

The Psych Files is a podcast for anyone who wonders why we do what we do. Experienced educator Michael Britt, Ph.D., in an upbeat and friendly style, shows you how ideas from the field of psychology apply to everyday life. If you are a life-long learner, a student or a teacher, you will find his 20-30 minute episodes enjoyable and educational. Over 14 million episodes have been downloaded to date with over 100,000 people listening every month. See what all the talk is about!

The printed word has been around for a long time. Bet you thought there was nothing new in how we put words together in a book or website. Well, guess again. Researchers at Asymmetrica have drawn upon a tried and true memory strategy called "chunking" and applied it to - get this - the amount of white space between words. Would we be able to improve literacy if we ever so slightly adjusted the amount of space between words so that it better reflected our everyday speech patters? Psychologist Chris Nicolas has been tinkering with these word spaces and I think you'll be surprised at what he's doing.

The printed word has been around for a long time. Bet you thought there was nothing new in how we put words together in a book or website.  Well, guess again. Researchers at Asymmetrica have drawn upon a tried and true memory strategy called "chunking" and applied it to - get this - the amount of white space between words.  Would we be able to improve literacy if we ever so slightly adjusted the amount of space between words so that it better reflected our everyday speech patters? Psychologist Chris Nicolas has been tinkering with these word spaces and I think you'll be surprised at what he's doing.