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 [...]
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.
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 Effect If you take [...]
I give you 5 reasons why your brain is telling you that Casey Anthony is guilty. These are 5 reasons why we tend to think that a lot of people are guilty even before they’ve been tried. 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. 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 [...]
Date Rape: here are some methods to effectively address this problem. 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 Dr. 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.
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.
For some reason we believe that our memories are accurate. They are far from it. What we remember is a hodge-podge, a patchwork of images, stories, and bits and pieces from our past. In this episode I describe some of the very interesting research showing how our memories can be manipulated in surprising ways.
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 of this they get admitted to psychiatric centers.
In this video episode I show you 10 of what I consider to be the best psychology apps in the app store. There are a lot of apps out there and many are not so good, but in this episode I pick out what I consider to be credible therapy apps, excellent mobile mind mapping tools, relaxation apps, games based on Gestalt principles of psychology, and some of the best 3 dimensional ways to look at the brain.
