Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

Ep 246: Why Replications Sometimes Don't Agree with the Original Study

Have you heard that about 100 Psychology studies were replicated and only about 1/3 confirmed the original findings? Why did this happen? Well, one reason has to do with incentives that are out of whack. The "real world" of scientific research is far from the lone researcher looking for the truth. And the other reason has to do with, well, you and the internet. You see, you like to click on things that are surprising or weird (I like to do that too I admit) and that behavior encourages bad research. Let's find out how these things are all connected in this episode of The Psych Files.

Ep 245: The Reproducibility Project: Incentives Out of Whack

If you have not seen the movie Analyze This with Robert Deniro and Billy Krystal, then you really should. It's not just a funny movie, bit also gets a lot of things about therapy right. So many movies portray psychotherapy so unrealistically but this movie, while it takes a lot of liberties with the therapeutic process, gets some things right and gives you a pretty good idea of how therapy progresses. Through sound bytes from the movie we'll see examples of catharsis, freudian defense mechanisms of denial and minimizing, the analysis of dreams, the breaking of therapeutic boundaries, and Rogerian techniques of reflection. A fascinating movie to take apart and that's just what I do in this episode of ThePsychFiles.

If you have not seen the movie Analyze This with Robert DeNiro and Billy Krystal, then you really should. It's not just a funny movie, bit also gets a lot of things about therapy right. So many movies portray psychotherapy so unrealistically but this movie, while it takes a lot of liberties with the therapeutic process, gets some things right and gives you a pretty good idea of how therapy progresses. Through sound bytes from the movie we'll see examples of catharsis, freudian defense mechanisms of denial and minimizing, the analysis of dreams, the breaking of therapeutic boundaries, and Rogerian techniques of reflection. A fascinating movie to take apart and that's just what I do in this episode of The Psych Files.  

If you have been in therapy you want to believe it "worked". We all do. And hopefully it did have a positive effect on you. But how do you know? How do therapists know if what they're doing really has resulted in improvements in their clients? Yes, we have controlled studies for many treatments which give us confidence that these techniques really do help people, but we also have a lot of "therapeutic" techniques that have not been thoroughly tested. Nonetheless, lots of amazing claims are made for their effectiveness and no doubt the people who provide these therapies really do believe that they work.

Ep 243: Did Your Therapy Really Work?

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!

Ep 242: The Psychology of Attractiveness: An Interview with Rob Burriss

How can technology be used to help people with Dementia and Alzheimer's? Here are a few examples. You may have heard of the "Internet of Things" - this is the idea that we can place small Internet-connected devices onto everyday household objects in order to get information from them about what you are doing - and not doing - throughout the day. A simple use of these devices would be to program these devices to turn the heat up (or down), turn your coffee on and feed the cat when the device senses that you just woke up. But how about using these devices with people who have memory problems? We can also detect when you are NOT doing something (and by a certain time) that you ought to be doing (like eating breakfast) and we can give you an automatic reminder or, if you have fallen, automatically send someone a text. In this episode of The Psych Files we apply technology and psychology to your daily life.

Ep241:I know What You DID'T Do - the Internet of Things for Dementia and Alzheimer's

We all want to help others - especially those in the "helping professions" - but what's the best way to do that? Therapy? Medication? How about setting up an entire fake village set up to look like the '50s with helping professionals dressed up to look like grocers? Sound bizarre? Well, they're doing it in Amersterdam.

Ep 240: How Do You Treat People Who Are Ill?

Why does conflict emerge as it did in Baltimore last week, among the police and the African-American community? Is it caused by poor parenting? Poverty? Joblessness? I provide a psychological perspective on the situation. I look at how stereotypes develop and conflict among groups develops. The solution is complex but the theories on these two issues give us some insight into what has to happen to resolve the problems.

Ep 239: Racial Divide: Why Does It Happen? How We Can Fix It