Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

Everyone can picture one of those phrenology heads with personality traits drawn into different sections of the cranium. Was there anything to that? Well, not exactly. However, with the use of MRI scans researchers today may have found something just about as good - they may have located where certain personality traits lie in your brain. Travel with me into a 3D brain and let's find out where your personality may lie.

There are many reasons why it is difficult to lose weight, but have you considered how supernormal stimuli might be one of them? In this episode I discuss some of the ideas in the books Waistland and Supernormal Stimuli by Dierdre Barrett. Is it possible that the old saying Everything in Moderation might just be wrong? And will Small Changes really help you to get in shape or are radical changes really the way to go?

For some reason we believe that our memories are accurate. They are far from it. What we remember is a hodge-podge, a patchwork of images, stories, and bits and pieces from our past. In this episode I describe some of the very interesting research showing how our memories can be manipulated in surprising ways. Learn why you loved asparagus as a kid (really you did, really).

Would you be surprised if I told you that your memories of the attacks on September 11, 2001 are inaccurate? How much of what you remember of that day or of other Flashbulb Memories actually happened? Where were you, for example, when the Challenger shuttle blew up? Or when Princess Diana died? Join me as I explore the research that reveals how inaccurate our memories are (no matter how confident we feel). And by the way, was President Bush involved in a conspiracy over the events of September 11? Let's find out.

What do your dog and Shakespeare have in common? Well, they both use a Theory of Mind. Join me for this video episode in which I look at this fascinating idea of theory of mind and the unique and fun research that has been done around it. And yes, you might pick up an idea of how to test your dog to see if your dog can actually read your mind.

What does the movie Shrek have to do with labeling, psychiatric illness and the self-fulfilling prophecy? In this episode I take a close look at the well-known Rosenhan study. This was the study in which pseudopatients pretend to hear voices and on the basis of this they get admitted to psychiatric centers. Then they were told to act normally. It took an average of 19 days for these pseudopatients to be discharged from the hospital and even then they were diagnosed as schizophrenia in remission. Does this study show that psychiatric diagnoses are not only useless but also possibly harmful? Or do we find what we found back in episode 47 on Little Albert, and what we found in episode 36 on Kitty Genovese that what we thought we knew is largely wrong.

In this video episode I show you 10 of what I consider to be the best psychology apps in the app store. There are a lot of apps out there and many are not so good, but in this episode I pick out what I consider to be credible therapy apps, excellent mobile mind mapping tools, relaxation apps, games based on Gestalt principles of psychology, and some of the best 3 dimensional ways to look at the brain.

In this video episode I show you 10 of what I consider to be the best psychology apps in the app store. There are a lot of apps out there and many are not so good, but in this episode I pick out what I consider to be credible therapy apps, excellent mobile mind mapping tools, relaxation apps, games based on Gestalt principles of psychology, and some of the best 3 dimensional ways to look at the brain.

Have you ever deliberately replaced small words with bigger ones in order to sound more intelligent? Guess what - it usually doesn't work. In a series of studies Daniel Oppenheimer showed that writers actually came across as less intelligent when they used big words where smaller ones would have worked just as well. The bottom line: take the time to understand what you want to say and then say it in plain, ordinary language.

Have you ever been less than truthful in an email? Or perhaps a little more blunt or emotional than you might have been if you delivered your message in person? Why is it that people can sometimes be so mean in their online comments? In this episode I explore why we communicate differently in the online world than we do in person by discussing an article on the finer points of lying online.

A lot of people get into psychology because they think they are good listeners, but are you really a good listener? What does it mean to be a good listener? In this episode I look at a fascinating acting exercise created by Sanford Meisner called the "repetition exercise" which trains actors how to truly listen. Are you as good a listener as these trained actors?

What is it like to live with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD? Listen to this interview with a young woman who deals with OCD every day and you'll get a much better understanding of what OCD is like. You have probably heard of the term OCD and perhaps you've seen shows like Monk or you've seen characters on TV and in the movies who show symptoms of obsessional thoughts or compulsive behaviors and perhaps you've wondered yourself about some of your own thoughts and behaviors.

Do you like working in a group? Most people don't because they're afraid that they'll have to do most of the work (wind up being a sucker) and that other group members won't do their share of the work (free loaders). Want to find out how to avoid this and make your group work productive? Learn how the Agile software development technique can be adapted to your help your next group project be a success.

ecent research on violent video games is pretty conclusive and you're not going to like it. There's good evidence that people if you play violent video games you might be less likely to a) notice aggressive events, b) perceive fewer or less severe injuries, c) feel less sympathy for violence victims, and d) have less negative attitudes towards violence. In this video I take a close look at this research as well as one study which claims the complete opposite: that violent video games are perceived by players as merely "rough and tumble play" and that violence actually enhances performance. Who should you believe?

Little Albert - one of the most famous subjects in the history of psychology - has finally been identified. Researchers spent 7 years tracking down every possible lead in order to discover who John Watson's "Albert B" really was. In this video episode I take you through each step of the extensive detective work to uncover his identity. It's a fascinating, creative, and in the end touching journey. Some never seen before pictures are included. Join me in this episode of The Psych Files.