Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

Let's talk sports psychology. When you participate in a sport do you talk to yourself? Do you try to "psych yourself up", or do you give yourself instructions on how to hold a part of your body or how much energy to exert or when to hold back? This is the kind of self-talk that psychologists study and it's interesting to learn when you say these things to yourself and when they'll be most effective. Also, some athletes feel that time slows down for them and they can really "see the ball". Every happen to you? Let's find out what's going on in your brain when these kinds of time illusions (or "chronostasis") events occur. Some fascinating stuff from the world of sports psychology

What is your body position revealing about you? Some things are obvious - you probably know that crossed arms indicate a certain distrust. There are also flirting gestures that I'll bet you think you know well (like women playing with their hair and men sticking out their chests), but what about your thumbs? My thumbs? Yes, you might well be revealing something about yourself by where you're putting them would you believe. Listen in as I talk with Craig Baxter, owner of the website All-About-Body-Language.com who will tell us a bit more about the fascinating topic of body language.

Do women who work in typically male dominated jobs "play down" their femininity in order to be gain more respect from their male co-workers? In this episode we'll explore this stereotype threat as well as something you may not have heard of: the lipstick effect. How do men and women change their appearance or their behavior during times of economic depression? In this all-gender episode we look at these issues as well as why the new Volkswagen Beetle has changed its appearance. Yes, the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle has become more masculine, but why?

An audio in which I explain 5 study techniques that have solid research support. These techniques will help students get better grades on their tests.

There is a lot of talk these days about a fascinating idea called embodied cognition. What is it exactly? In this lively interview I talk with two people who are actively looking into this question. We discuss how the body and mind "talk" to each other when baseball players catch fly balls and what role psychology plays in the design of robots.

In this follow-up to episode 176 I discuss two more reasons why I believe some people either don't like or just distrust psychology: 1) the belief that it is not a science, and 2) the belief - created by the media - that psychologists make a lot of money for giving out common sense advice. I hope you'll see that psychology is not unlike other sciences in that we study something extremely complex and yes, sometimes our findings are contradictory and they change over time. Also, the media focuses - as usual - on only the most unlikely behavior of psychologists (like having sex with patients) or portraying them as having messed up personal lives. Let's find out the truth (well, at least from one psychologist's perspective).

Why do so many people have strongly negative feelings about the field of psychology? I think there are a handful of reasons and in this episode I talk about two of them: the so-called "self-esteem movement" and the "positive thinking" movement. Are psychologists responsible for why "kids today" appear to be so self-centered? Do psychologists think that changing yourself is as simple as just changing the way you think? Hear one psychologists opinion on this and my explanation on two reasons why I think maybe you hate psychology. Just hear me out.

In the market for a car? Believe me: they have seen you coming and they are ready to use some sophisticated techniques to persuade you to buy. Be prepared. Watch this episode of The Psych Files and learn how the persuasion techniques described by psychologist Robert Cialdini are being used to change your attitudes and behavior to align with the goals of the salesman.

Have psychologists recently found evidence for the existence of psychic ability? Last year, well-known psychologist Daryl Bem published an article called Feeling the Future in which he describes a number of studies, all of which provided support for a kind of phi phenomenon he calls "retroactive influence". The research appeared in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The article caused a storm of controversy and calls for changes to how research and the peer review process is conducted. I covered some of those recommendations in video episode 165 Psychological Research Under Fire. In this episode I interview the lead author, Stuart Ritchie, of the first published replication of one part of Bem's work. Listen as Stuart describes what he did and what he found on this very controversial topic.

Every once in a while a really cool tool comes along and I like to show everyone the fun I had with it. In this video episode I show how I easily made an interactive image of a neuron and an interactive map containing videos and locations for some of the major studies in psychology. Do you know where, for example, "Bobo doll" study was done? How about the spot where "Marion Keech" received her message from the alien race called the "Clarion" which revealed the inner workings of cognitive dissonance? Find out how to make your own fun and easy interactive image in this episode of The Psych Files.

Did you know that you can apply your psychology skills to the development of effective websites? Meet one woman - Nathalie Nahai - who does exactly that and she has a background in not only psychology, but also Art, Physics and English Literature. She's putting all those together to help people improve their websites and the power of their online influence, which by the way, is the title of the book she's working on: The Psychology of Online Influence.

A whole bunch of fascinating studies in this episode of The Psych Files! I cover the "Red Dress Effect", what exactly we're looking for in the facial characteristics of our leaders, how dark rooms might make you more likely to cheat, and how "contagious yawning" really works. Join me on this jaunt down some of the recent and fun research coming out of the fascinating field of psychology.

You probably know that sites like Facebook are using the information they have about you - like your age, gender and interests - to serve up ads that are most likely to appeal to you. That's a little bit harmless and perhaps even helpful. But how about the more subtle filtering that is going on that you may not be aware of? Search engines are using information they have about you to show you news that these search tools think will most likely appeal to you based on your previous search activities. The problem with that? You might find yourself living in a bubble - sheltered from ever hearing about things that might you might now agree with, but which might also open your mind a bit and make you what your parents always wanted for you - to be "well-rounded".

In episode 168 I discussed reliability but the real test of a test's "metal" - or how confident you can be in the results - comes when you subject it to lots of validity tests. You'll learn a lot about validity if you take a psychology class. High validity is what separates the many fun-to-take but essentially meaningless tests you'll find on the web, and a truly solid test of your personality.

Can you tell your personality from what flavor ice cream you like? There are lots and lots of so called Personality tests on the web. How do you know when you've come across a good one? For example, are the inner workings of your personality revealed in the playlists you have on your smartphone or mp3 device? In this episode we take a look at the first thing you should demand from any test - reliability. If you're interested in psychology you are going to learn A LOT about the different kinds of reliability.Ep 168: Reliability - the Foundation of Any Good Personality Test

Guess What? Bad news: if you've ever been overweight and you're trying to lose weight it's even harder than you think. Yikes. Pretty de-motivating. However, let's see what motivational psychologists would have to say about this. How to keep from throwing up your hands at the whole effort.

What do you reveal about yourself in the way you use the smallest and seemingly most insignificant words you use every minute? That's the focus of Dr. James Pennebaker's fascinating book and one of the most interesting psychology books of 2011: The Secret Life of Pronouns. If you're fascinated by language then you'll find this episode especially interesting.

What's going on with Psychology? There have been a number of reports about poorly conducted or completely fraudulent research in the field. Well, there's bad research in all fields, but psychology, which has through its history struggled for scientific credibility, is particularly sensitive to this issue and many psychologists have come out with strong recommendations to make sure that our research is of the highest quality.In this episode I look at how research can be conducted poorly and what to watch out for when you either conduct or read about the results of research.

Just about everyone finds poop disgusting right? So who finds it not so disgusting? Would you believe women in their 20s who are in the middle of their menstrual cycle, and who have motherhood as one of their goals in life? Disgust has become quite a popular topic in psychology lately. Join me as I discuss one of the more interesting studies that looks at how the intensity of our emotions can be affected by our nonconscious goals. MOre interesting than you might think really. And certainly not to be poo-pooed at…

Do animals smile? Do they feel emotions and if so how many kinds of feelings do they share with us? In this episode we also take a look at the probiotics in yogurt - how do they affect your thinking and do they might help protect you from stress. It turns out that these probiotics increase the production of the neurotransmitter GABA which helps quiet down your neurons. I also talk about the work of female psychologists: Carol Dweck on the psychology of success, and and a tribute to Evelyn Hooker whose research helped in removing homosexuality from the DSM in 1973.

In episode 160 I discussed the first 2 ideas on how to spend your money wisely. In this episode I'll talk about 4 more great ideas on how to get the most from your money and 2 things you have to be careful about. Get the latest findings from positive psychologists on this episode of The Psych Files.

Looking for a self-help book with some meat? One that won't insult your intelligence with flowery words and hyped up promises and pseudoscience? Take a look at the book Redirect by psychologist and author Tim Wilson. Redirect will give you a lot to think about and some new insights into human nature.

Why aren't rich people happier than those of us with less money? We think that money will bring happiness, but research in the area of positive psychology has consistently found that having more money does NOT make us happier. Find out how to spend your money the right way.

What's Wrong With a Little Gossip?While some research points out that gossipers are in general disliked, there is an upside: sharing negative gossip can actually help two people like each other better. In this episode we'll find out the benefits of sharing a tasty piece of negative gossip.The Licensing EffectIf you take supplements you need to hear this news about how you might be using your taking of the supplements to "license" other activities that aren't so good for your health.Evidence in Favor of Affirmations?In a previous episode on self affirmations I presented some strongly negative evidence. However, in this study there might be a role for affirmations - especially in helping people with social anxiety to feel a bit more confident.

But I studied!! Don't be frustrated with low grades. If you study RIGHT you will get good grades. What what does that mean to study right? I've got 5 techniques that will help you get better grades and one very important warning about something you may be doing that you have to stop! Find out how to study right in this episode of The Psych Files.

You hear a lot these days about how pets make us happy. This is called the "pet effect". But is it so? The answer appears to be a qualified yes. But in what ways do pets make us happy? How strong is their effect on our lives? Also, how about religion? We also hear that religious people are happier, but is this true everywhere in the US or everywhere in the world? Why does religion make us happy and in what societies are people likely to benefit from this "religion effect"? Finally, some helpful advice on getting into grad school.

What do you have to do to get into grad school in Psychology? A lot of people apply. Who ARE these people and how are you going to stand out among them? Meet one future grad student - Erin Breedlove - who is a college junior and she's already positioned herself very well for grad school. How did she do it? What is she doing that you ought to do? And how, of all things, is she using Twitter to get into grad school? Among the many tools you'll want to use to help you get into grad school, like GRE preparation books and getting into grad school books, you'll want to add twitter. Find out how Erin is using twitter to make connections with potential future Psychology mentors and increase her chances of knowing what she wants to do in Psychology and which faculty she might like to work with while in grad school.

Is cuddling good - especially for men - in marriage? Do baths make you feel less lonely, is Google really making you stupid, how does your body language affect your feelings, and....is that your cell phone vibrating? In this 2nd Psych Files brief I take a look at some of the more interesting psychological research circling around the web this past month.

The trial of accused child murdered Casey Anthony is over and Casey was found not guilty. Most people are extremely upset because she appeared to be guilty for many reasons. I give you 5 reasons why Casey Anthony might not be guilty. None of these are based on evidence, but instead on what might be going on inside your mind that made you think she was guilty. Caution: open mindedness required!

What is the REAL reason why you either support or oppose gay marriage? We may give logical reasons for our opinions, but the roots behind your opinion lies - where else? - in your past. So let's dive into your mind as we always do here in the Psych Files and learn how our attitudes develop over time and how strong attitudes especially come to be held.

How does Behavior Modification work? Find out in this episode as I interview Scott Milford, author of the Behavior and Motivation website. If you're about how to apply Psychology to everyday life then this is the guy to show you how he does it. In this episode we talk about how to get kids to practice the piano, but you'll quickly see how this approach could be applied to all kinds of other life challenges. Scott developed his approach over many years of working with young people both at the piano and with at-risk adolescents in school. See how Psychology can be put to work!

We all take shortcuts when we are making decisions. And in those shortcuts often lie our mistakes. In this episode find out the difference between the availability and representativeness heuristics, as well as the "Take the Best", Hindsight, and the Base Rate Neglect (Fallacy) heuristics. Lots of examples of these heuristics at work are included. Let's face it - we all have lazy minds! Either that or we're all too busy to try to weed through complicated statistics and probabilities. Heuristics help us make decisions fast. But are they the right ones?

Piaget's concept of object permanence is essential to understand. But how did they study this idea among 1 year olds? Obviously children can't tell you that they believe that something no longer exists when they can't see it, so how do we know what is going on inside a child's mind? How about this challenge: do animals also understand object permanence? If you've ever seen your cat or dog look under or around objects for a lost toy then yes - you've seen that they do understand object permanence.How can you study object permanence - or a related idea called "expectancy violation" - in animals? Let's take a look in this 150 episode of The Psych Files.

Piaget's concept of object permanence is essential to understand. But how did they study this idea among 1 year olds? Obviously children can't tell you that they believe that something no longer exists when they can't see it, so how do we know what is going on inside a child's mind? How about this challenge: do animals also understand object permanence? If you've ever seen your cat or dog look under or around objects for a lost toy then yes - you've seen that they do understand object permanence.How can you study object permanence - or a related idea called "expectancy violation" - in animals? Let's take a look in this 150 episode of The Psych Files.

You've probably heard of many times when people knew that someone was hurt or might be hurt and they did not help. How can we prevent that from happening? You may have learned about bystander apathy and the concept of diffusion of responsibility. But now what do we DO with what we know? How can we put that knowledge into action? Meet Vicky Banyard and see what she and her colleagues at the University of New Hampshire are doing with a program called Bring in the Bystander. Bringing in the Bystander program at the University of New Hampshire. There's an interesting checklist on the Know Your Power website. It's called the Checklist for Bystander Action. Also take a look at the Bystander Store where you can order the poster's Dr. Banyard talked about in this episode.

What can we do to end bullying against gays? There is a shocking increase in the number of young homosexuals who are commit suicide. Many anti-bullying programs don't work and in this episode I talk to Dr. Elizabeth J. Meyer of Concordia University about what can be done. No one should be bullied and we all need to care about those who are bullied to the point of considering suicide. Find out more in this episode.

In this first "Psych Files Brief" episode, we look at whether swearing actually reduces your sensation of pain (ever stub your toe?), whether or not vertical stripes actually do make you look thinner (no surprise - the answer is no), whether you're more likely to run up that credit card when you're feeling low, and why is it (and when is it) that yawns become contagious?

Borderline Personality Disorder is a difficult disorder to understand and treat. Briefly, people who suffer from BPD tend to have a heightened sensitivity to rejection. When they feel that they are being rejected they can react with strong feelings of anger. Their emotions can be very intense and vary widely during the day. This can also make their relationships very unstable. They can also be very impulsive. However, a recent fascinating piece of research used a mobile device and what's called an "experience sampling" technique to gain further insight into what it is like to have BPD. In this episode I discuss that research and then wonder what else we might be able to learn as our mobile devices become even more powerful. Resources on Borderline Personality Disorder The Fight Within Us ESP: The Experience Sampling Program Just Helping People

Feeling guilty about not being a "Tiger Mom" (or Dad)? Let me give you 3 reasons why you don't have to feel that way. Get yourself ready for the next time that someone says that you (or parents in general) have to be tougher on our kids. You've probably heard about the authoritarian parenting style advocated by Amy Chua in her Tiger Mom book. Lots of Americans think she has good point that the problems with American kids is that they are being raised with too much leeway, and that we're not being tough enough on them. The reason, they say, that our Math scores are too low is that we're not strict enough and we don't have high expectations for our children. Are they right? Or are there other ways that our children are being successful that we don't take into account? If you're feeling discouraged about parenting let me raise your spirits.

Americans spend billions of dollars on self-help products each year, but does someone else hold the answers to your questions about what your life is all about? Join me as I discuss a fascinating book called If You Meet The Buddha On The Road, Kill Him!. We also see how a wonderful recent broadway musical, The Drowsy Chaperone has some very intriguing things to say about life. Could it be that there is some existentialism in that musical? Listen to this episode to find out.

In this video you’ll learn exactly how the phonetic alphabet system works. In the last episode you saw me memorize – almost perfectly – a list of 20 top sci-fi movies. How did I do it? I’ll show you how each number becomes a letter, each letter becomes a word and each word becomes an image that will help you memorize just about any size list. Skeptical? You won’t be after seeing exactly how the phonetic alphabet works.

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? 1 Million Workers. 90 Million iPhones. 17 Suicides. Who’s to Blame?

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.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? 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.

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

In part 2 of my interview with Adele Faber, co-author along with Elaine Mazlish of "How To Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk" we talk about what do do when you've got nothing left emotionally to give to your children, how to handle foul language, how to problem solve with your children, and being authentic with your children about own feelings. Finally, Adele gives her opinion on whether or not we need to be tougher with our children. Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish