Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

Michael Britt

Learn how theories in psychology affect you in everyday life. Upbeat and interesting podcasts from experienced psychology teacher Michael Britt give you a bit more insight into you and your life.

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390 episodes
Updated Thursday

Episodes390

Newest first

Jan 30, 2022 · 8 min
Ep 334: The Psychology of the Fantasticks
Have you seen the musical The Fantasticks? Not only does it have wonderful music but it also has pearls of wisdom. Oh yea, and gender issues. In this episode I talk about the psychology inside this wonderful musical
Jan 30, 2022 · 24 min
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. But how...
Jan 24, 2022 · 31 min
Ep 338: What Role Are Women Really Playing? The Bechdel Test
In movies and TV, women are understandably tired of playing roles like the "Wife" or the "Girlfriend". Nowadays we're seeing more women in film and TV but has their role in the production really changed all that much? That's what the Bechdel...
Jan 24, 2022 · 33 min
Ep 191: What Was B. F. Skinner Really Like?
Would you be surprised to learn that B.F. Skinner was a very likable guy and that you may actually be very much in agreement with his ideas? Many people who study psychology have a negative impression of Skinner. Well, I'm about to challenge those...
Jan 23, 2022 · 23 min
Episode 99: Animal Emotions - Does Your Pet Really Have Feelings?
Does your dog have thoughts and feelings? How about your cat? In this episode we find out what scientists have to say about how we should study this question. I also review a fascinating new study by Dr. Alexandra Horowitz of Barnard College who...
Jan 23, 2022 · 36 min
Ep 190: Why Do You Get So Absorbed in that Book (or Movie)?
Have you ever gotten to immersed in a book or movie that you actually felt like the character? Or you felt the character's pain or joy? Why does this happen? When does this happen? What is it about the book or the movie and its characters that draws...
Jan 22, 2022 · 32 min
Ep 185: The Dynamics of Therapy: Transference and Counter Transference: An Interview with Kerry Malawista
Transference and countertransference are two key concepts in psychoanalysis and they are fascinating. If you're interested in the therapy side of psychology - particularly psychoanalysis - this is the episode for you. Kerry Malawista, psychoanalyst...
Jan 22, 2022 · 34 min
How to Change the Mind of a Conservative
How do you get someone is is conservative to support climate change? Or stricter controls on guns? There is a way. Research confirms that conservatives tend to be focused on how good the past was, while liberals are “future-focused”. So what if...
Jan 22, 2022 · 29 min
Ep 324: Put Your Love Life on Automatic
In this episode I cover a few interesting topics. First, have you ever "blanked out" in front of an audience? I recently did and I was determined to find out why this happened. I found some answers in a great book called Stop Talking, Start...
Jan 22, 2022 · 28 min
Ep 229: What Makes a Song Popular? Psychology of Music: How We Detect Melody
What makes some songs so popular? Guess what - psychologists actually know a lot of the answers. In this episode we'll listen to excerpts from Leonard Cohen's song Hallelujah, as well as Noisestorm's Ignite, Adele's Someone Like You, the Enterprise...
Jan 22, 2022 · 31 min
Ep 243: Did Your Therapy Really Work?
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...
Jan 22, 2022 · 27 min
Episode 108: More Harm Than Good? Kubler-Ross' Five Stages of Grief
Almost everyone has heard of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, her book On Death and Dying, and her five stages of grief. But are these stages accurate? Could the five stages of grief actually be doing more harm than good? Are they helping us to better...
Jan 19, 2022 · 29 min
Episode 122: DSM-V and On Being Sane - Are Psychiatric Labels Really Harmful?
What does the movie Shrek have to do with labeling, the DSM-V 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...
Jan 16, 2022 · 33 min
Ep 221: Facebook Study: A Brief Summary and Did They Use Informed Consent?
You may have heard that Facebook manipulated the content of user's New Feeds during January of 2012 so that some users saw more positive posts than others, which other Facebook users saw more negative posts. How did this affect these users? Did those...
Jan 16, 2022 · 14 min
Ep 335: Conspiracy Theories - Why So Easy To Believe?
Why do some conspiracy theories seem to have so much evidence to support them? Well, that's because if you look hard enough at any event, and you don't have any particular theory before you start looking, you're eventually going to find something. And...
Jan 16, 2022 · 19 min
Episode 75: Science Proves Subliminal Tapes Work! Well….not really
Do subliminal messages in self-help tapes really work? There actually is some evidence that people can be influenced by subliminal messages. Can your self-esteem be raised with subliminal tapes? Can subliminal persuasion help you lose weight? Are...
Jan 15, 2022 · 21 min
Ep 278: How to Memorize Your Lines or Lyrics - Techniques You Never Heard Of
Have to memorize lines for a play or musical? There are a lot of techniques. Let me tell you about a few that are backed by science. I've been involved in the theatre for many years and I've done a lot of memorizing of both lines and song lyrics....
Jan 14, 2022 · 28 min
Episode 50: Psychological Study Ripped Straight from….the Bible?
How many scientific studies find their inspiration from a parable in the bible? Well, this one does and for my 50th episode I’ll go over a very interesting study based on the Good Samaritan parable. We’ll take another look at the topic of...
Jan 13, 2022 · 30 min
Episode 125: False Memories - How Can Your Memory Be So Bad?
We tend to believe our memories are accurate, but they are far from it. , now we even may have . What we remember is a hodge-podge, a patchwork of images, stories, and bits and pieces from our past (what some researchers refer to as the constructive...
Jan 13, 2022 · 20 min
Episode 36: Kitty Genovese: What Really Happened?
Kitty Genovese: what you know about what happened to her is wrong. Kitty Genovese was repeatedly attacked while others watched and did nothing - right? Wrong. While the story lead to a long and successful line of research in the area of bystander...

Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

Ep 334: The Psychology of the Fantasticks

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

Ep 338: What Role Are Women Really Playing? The Bechdel Test

Ep 191: What Was B. F. Skinner Really Like?

Episode 99: Animal Emotions - Does Your Pet Really Have Feelings?

Ep 190: Why Do You Get So Absorbed in that Book (or Movie)?

Ep 185: The Dynamics of Therapy: Transference and Counter Transference: An Interview with Kerry Malawista

How to Change the Mind of a Conservative

Ep 324: Put Your Love Life on Automatic

Ep 229: What Makes a Song Popular? Psychology of Music: How We Detect Melody

Ep 243: Did Your Therapy Really Work?

Episode 108: More Harm Than Good? Kubler-Ross' Five Stages of Grief

Episode 122: DSM-V and On Being Sane - Are Psychiatric Labels Really Harmful?

Ep 221: Facebook Study: A Brief Summary and Did They Use Informed Consent?

Ep 335: Conspiracy Theories - Why So Easy To Believe?

Episode 75: Science Proves Subliminal Tapes Work! Well….not really

Ep 278: How to Memorize Your Lines or Lyrics - Techniques You Never Heard Of

Episode 50: Psychological Study Ripped Straight from….the Bible?

Episode 125: False Memories - How Can Your Memory Be So Bad?

Episode 36: Kitty Genovese: What Really Happened?