Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

The Phonetic Alphabet Part 1

Curious about EMDR? Listen to this interview with the founder of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, Dr. Francine Shapiro talk about EMDR and how it is different from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). This is an intriguing and unique type of therapy and if you want to learn more about it you've come to the right place.

Curious about EMDR? Listen to this interview with the founder of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, Dr. Francine Shapiro talk about EMDR and how it is different from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).  This is an intriguing and unique type of therapy and if you want to learn more about it you've come to the right place.   EMRD Institute EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Programs   Rewrite the textbooks: Findings challenge conventional wisdom of how neurons operate

Do you have a dull job? Wonder how it can be made more motivating? That's the challenge - how can we make jobs that are typically not much fun (like an assembly line job) more interesting to do? This is one of the challenges facing I/O psychologists and in this episode I discuss the Job Characteristics theory by Hackman and Oldham and apply it to assembly line jobs in China where your iPhone is made and where a record number of suicides have occurred over the past few years. Can we use job redesign to make such jobs more tolerable?

Do you have a dull job?  Wonder how it can be made more motivating?  That's the challenge - how can we make jobs that are typically not much fun (like an assembly line job) more interesting to do?  This is one of the challenges facing I/O psychologists and in this episode I discuss the Job Characteristics theory by Hackman and Oldham and apply it to assembly line jobs in China where your iPhone is made and where a record number of suicides have occurred over the past few years. Can we use job redesign to make such jobs more tolerable?  1 Million Workers. 90 Million iPhones. 17 Suicides. Who’s to Blame?

Join me as I describe a psychological study that tested a new kind of lie detector. The study involved Agents, Missions, an Interception, and a mysterious package. This is psychology? You better believe it.

You've probably heard that the so called "Lie Detector" test (the polygraph)doesn't actually detect when you've lied, but rather just takes some physiological measures from your body and these have to be interpreted by experts.  Sometimes those experts make mistakes.  Join me as I describe a psychological study that tested a new kind of "Lie Detector" - drawings.  This study involved Agents, Missions, an Interception, and a mysterious "package".  This is psychology?  You better believe it. 

In this episode I put Jack Lalanne on the couch. I take selections from several of his vidoes and see what they reveal about his personality. He was clearly passionate about exercise, but what drove this passion? What was his underlying motivation? I suggest that his relationship with his father was crucial to his passion for exercise and fitness. Join me as I do a little armchair psychoanalysis of Jack Lalanne.

In this episode I put Jack Lalanne "on the couch".  I take selections from several of his vidoes and see what they reveal about his personality.  He was clearly passionate about exercise, but what drove this passion?  What was his underlying motivation?  I suggest that his relationship with his father was crucial to his passion for exercise and fitness.  Join me as I do a little armchair psychoanalysis of Jack Lalanne. Jack Lalanne The Ripped and the Righteous

I'll bet you've heard of the expression, "Whatever doesn't kill you...", or "Suffering is good for the soul". Could these expression represent another way that we deal with our own anxiety after we hear about someone else's tragedy?

I'll bet you've heard of the expression, "Whatever doesn't kill you...", or "Suffering is good for the soul".  Could these expression represent another way that we deal with our own anxiety after we hear about someone else's tragedy? Could they be another way of blaming the victim?  In this episode I explore the Justice Motive.    

Have you watched the TV show Walking Dead or ever seen a movie about Zombies (perhaps Zombieland or Dawn of the Dead? What is so fascinating about the undead? Why do many of us get a strange pleasure out of seeing a zombie get killed? In this episode I explore that strange part of ourselves which for some reason seems to enjoy watching the undead get really dead.

Have you watched the TV show Walking Dead or ever seen a movie about Zombies (perhaps Zombieland or Dawn of the Dead?  What is so fascinating about the undead?  Why do many of us get a strange pleasure out of seeing a zombie get killed? In this episode I explore that strange part of ourselves which for some reason seems to enjoy watching the undead get really dead.    

Can science study love? Are we able to scientifically determine what romance is all about? There seem to be times, particularly when people hold strong beliefs, that we just don't want to hear what scientists have to say. We talk a lot these days about the importance of objectivity, but are people - even scientists - capable of being objective? In this episode I'll talk about the scientific impotence excuse. Another interesting cognitive bias we seem to carry around with us.

Can science study love?  Are we able to scientifically determine what romance is all about?  There seem to be times, particularly when people hold strong beliefs, that we just don't want to hear what scientists have to say.  We talk a lot these days about the importance of objectivity, but are people - even scientists - capable of being objective?  In this episode I'll talk about  the scientific impotence excuse.  Another interesting cognitive bias we seem to carry around with us.      Walter Cronkite: The Man With America's Trust