Social Psychology | The Psych Files Podcast

by Michael on April 17, 2013 Leave a Comment

Ep 194: What Do I/0 Psychologists Really Do?

What do I/0 psychologists do anyway? Are you interested in this subfield of psychology? Well, here are a few things they DON’T do: they don’t do “therapy in the workplace” and they don’t do “motivational speaking“. It’s not what you think. Industrial/Organizational psychology is practiced by professionals who’s goal is to make sure that employees are productive and – and here’s what I’ll focus on in this episode – that job applicants are chosen based upon the skills and personality characteristics that are relevant to the jobs they are applying for. Find out more in this episode of The Psych Files.
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by Michael on February 26, 2013 Leave a Comment

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

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Have you ever become so 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 us in like this? It’s amazing isn’t it? To be so moved like this. Psychologists have studied this experience and we have some ideas regarding what factors have to be present in order for this to happen. And would you believe that this understand might help us to combat racism and bullying? Pretty amazing stuff. Join me as I explore what psychologists call “experience taking“.

Experience Taking

Kaufman, G. F., & Libby, L. K. (2012, March 26). Changing Beliefs and Behavior Through
Experience-Taking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Advance online publication.
doi: 10.1037/a0027525

Kill These Characters at Your Own Risk

Filed Under: Emotion, Personality, Social Psychology Tagged With: bullying, persuasion

by Michael on February 13, 2013 Leave a Comment

Ep 189: The Psych Files Brief #6 – Facebook Untagging, Money and Happiness, and Memory and Aging

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We have some great articles covered in this episode so I hope you find them thought-provoking and leave your comments below! We cover four topics, all of which can be relevant to your everyday life. Join me and my intern Madison for a fascinating discussion on some new research in psychology. First, a throwback to a previous episode on how to spend your money; experiences only beat out material possessions if they are spent with others. Social settings beat solitary settings every time.

by Michael on January 31, 2013 2 Comments

Ep 188: Psychologists Are Keeping You From Getting the Flu

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Didn’t get the flu this past winter? Thank a psychologist. What? Well, it could be that a psychologist was involved in helping health care professionals to do what they know they need to do (but sometimes don’t): wash their hands. The issue here is persuasion and motivation: how to we get people to do something – and keep doing it? Health care workers like doctors and nurses can fall prey to the availability heuristic: they can easily remember times when they didn’t wash their hands and they didn’t get sick so they might develop an “illusion of invulnerability“. How do psychologists get involved to solve this problem? Listen to this episode and find out.

by Michael 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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