Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

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Ep 184: Critical Thinking (Part 2) - Important? Yes. But Can We Teach It? Well….

In episode 183 I talked about what critical thinking is and why it's important.  Now we talk about why it's so darn hard to teach and to use critical thinking in our everyday lives.  In this episode I'll discuss Dr. Daniel Willingham's...

How SSRIs and MAO Inhibitors Work

Depression and other mental health problems are often treated with medications which are called Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors and/or Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors.  How do they work? I'll show you in this brief video.  More free...

Ep 183: Critical Thinking - Important? Yes. But Can We Teach It? Well….

Why does it concern psychologists that the Texas GOP platform recently opposed the teaching of critical thinking?  Most of us have been told since we were very young that critical thinking is very important.  Psychologists certainly agree...

Ep 182: Gamification - Here's How To Do It

Maybe you've heard of gamification, but how do you do it exactly?  How do you use game principles to increase people's motivation when they are doing everyday ordinary activities?  Find out in this episode of The Psych Files when I show you...

Ep 181: How Does Self Talk Improve Your Game?

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...

Ep: 180 - Body Language: What Are Your Thumbs Revealing About You?

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...

Ep 179: Lipstick Effect, Stereotype Threat and other Gender Matters

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...

5 Essential Study Techniques

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.

Ep 178: What Does Embodied Cognition have to do with Baseballs and Robots?

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...

EP 177: Why You Hate Psychology - Media Bias and Misunderstandings about How Science Works

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...

EP 176: Why You Hate Psychology - Self Esteem Movement and Positive Thinking

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"...

Ep: 175 - How to Protect Yourself from the Persuasive Tactics of the Car Salesperson

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...

Ep 173: The First Replication of Daryl Bem's Research on Psychic Phenomenon

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...

Ep 173: An Interactive Neuron and Map Using ThingLink

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...

Ep 172: Interview with Natalie Nahai - The Web Psychologist

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...

Ep 171 Psych Files Brief #5: Yawning, Telling Jokes to Babies, Politics and Looks

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...

Ep 170: Is the Web Making You More Narrow-Minded?

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. ...

Ep: 169 - Validity - Having Confidence in the Results of a Personality Test

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...

Ep 168: Reliability - the Foundation of Any Good Personality Test

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...