by on March 11, 2013 5 Comments

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

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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 impressions by presenting a side of Skinner you probably haven’t been exposed to. In these sound bytes you’ll hear his ideas about learning to play music, about discovery, having fun and becoming the most that you can be.
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Filed Under: Development, History of Psychology, Learning/Memory, Teaching Tools Tagged With: ,
by on October 12, 2012 6 Comments

Ep 182: Gamification – An Example of How To Do It

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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 how I would gamify an ordinary uHaul drive. Listen as I describe “uWin!”. I’ll first describe some gamification ideas and then show you how I’d put them to work in this rather ordinary truck driving situation. I’ll think you’ll have fun.
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Filed Under: Learning/Memory, Social Psychology
by on August 19, 2011 16 Comments

Ep 158: Tired of Low Grades? 5 Ways to Raise Your Test Scores (and 1 Warning!)

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Student Studying

Don’t be frustrated with low grades. If you want to know how to study for exams and get good grades then this is the episode for you.

I’ve got 5 techniques that will help you get better grades, develop effective study skills, and I’ll give you one very important warning about something you may be doing that you have to stop! Find out how to improve your college study skills.
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Filed Under: Cognition, Intelligence and Language, Learning/Memory
by on June 21, 2011 13 Comments

Ep 152: How Do You Change Your Behavior? Interview with Scott Milford

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Behavior ModificationHow 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!
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Filed Under: Learning/Memory, Motivation Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
by on July 13, 2010 14 Comments

Episode 128: Do Brain Training Games Work?

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You’ve probably heard about these Brain Training games. While there is some evidence that such games can have positive effects (Brain training for babies actually works (short term, at least), do they really help you to keep your mind sharp? Will they prevent cognitive decline as you get older or will they slow the effects of alzheimer’s disease? In this episode I review some recent studies on the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of these popular games.


Brain Games Research

  • A nice review of the brain training research can be found in this excellent book, "The Invisible Gorilla"
    • Price Disclaimer
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  • Owen, A.M., Hampshire, A., Grahn, J.A., Stenton, R., Dajani, S. Burns, A. S., Howard and Ballard, C.G (2010). Putting brain training to the test, Nature, 465, 775-779.

  • In Defense of Working Memory Training

  • Colcombe, S. and Kramer, A.F. (2003). Fitness effects on the cognitive function of older adults. Psychological Science, 14(2), 125-130.
  • Debunking 10 Brain Fitness and Brain Training Myths during Brain Awareness Week 2013
  • Papp, K.V., Walsh, S.J. and Snyder, P.J. (2009). Immediate and delayed effects of cognitive interventions in healthy elderly: A review of current literature and future directions. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 5, 50-60.

  • Willis, S.L., Tennstedt, S.L., Marsiske, M. Ball, K., Elias, F., Koepke, K.M., Morris, J.N., Rebok, G.W., Unverzagt, F.W., Stoddard, A.M., and Wright, W. (2006). Long-term effects of cognitive training on everyday functional outcomes in older adults. Journal of the American Medical Association, 296 (23).

  • Smith, G.E., Housen, P., Yaffe, K., Ruff, R., Kennison, R.F., Mahncke, H.W. and Zelinski, E.M. (2009). A cognitive training program based on principles of brain plasticity: Results from the improvement in memory with Plasticity-based adaptive cognitive training (IMPACT) Study. The American Geriatrics Society.

  • For a different perspective, read this article by CogMed a company that makes brain training tools. You’ll see how they critique the Owen, et. al study (above). Putting “brain training” to the test – and about time. They recommend that you read the research that they have conducted. If you do so, do you think their research is more convincing that those cited above?


Filed Under: Biopsychology, Critical Thinking, Development, Learning/Memory, Research and Stats Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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