The Psych Files Podcast » Motivation

How Do You Change Your Behavior? Interview with Scott Milford – Episode 152

Michael — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 18:01:24 +0000

How 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!

Resources on Token Economy

If you’d like to learn more about the behavior modification system Scott Milford discussed in this episode, or more about how he applies motivation theory to other aspects of life, check out his Behavior and Motivation website.

While on Scott’s site, check out his special Report, called, “Getting Results with Token Reward Systems“, which is available to subscribers of the site. The Special Report covers not only how to motivate yourself, but also how to motivate children and students. In the report Scott shares a real-life examples of how to use a token economy for each.

Here’s Scott’s Facebook page

Here’s where you can follow Scott on twitter
My tips on how to use a Token Economy system (along with a few tips from Scott’s system as well):

Episode 140: Psychoanalyzing Jack Lalanne

Michael — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 21:09:30 +0000

In this episode I put Jack Lalanne "on the couch". I take selections from several of his videos and see what they reveal about his personality. He was clearly passionate about exercise, but what drove this passion? What was his underlying motivation? I suggest that his relationship with his father was crucial to his passion for exercise and fitness. Join me as I do a little armchair psychoanalysis of Jack Lalanne.

The Ripped and the Righteous

Episode 38: How Big Is Your Office: Another Classic Study in Psychology

Michael — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:45:11 +0000

Equity and the lack of fairness strike again! What would happen if you were suddenly (even temporarily) moved to an office (or dorm room) that was smaller than the one you’re in now? Would you be less productive? Less satisfied? I bet you would. Let’s see how this was studied in a classic field experiment by psychologist Jerry Greenberg.

Resources For This Episode

Opps! Around 19 minutes into the podcast I say that you have to “observationally define” a smile. I meant “operationally define” a smile. Sorry ’bout that. I’ll try to fix that tonite.

Greenberg, J. (1988), “Equity and workplace status: a field experiment”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 73 pp.606-13.

Here is the link to my previous episode on the concept of Equity.

Here is the link to my previous episode on Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.

Episode 15: It’s Not Fair! Equity in Life and Work

Michael — Sat, 19 May 2007 14:13:34 +0000

Equity: the battle cry of childhood – It’s not fair – tends to follow us throughout life. Can it affect job satisfaction? Let’s take a look at how fairness, or the lack thereof, plays itself out in the work place. Get ready for a little math. Math? In psychology? You’ll see.

Equity Theory

Inputs: the things that you bring to the job such as your degree, your experience, your talents and skills, even your personality in some cases.
Outputs: what you get from your job such as the pay, the benefits package, bonus, the size of your office, prestige, etc.

How to Love the Job You Hate: Job Satisfaction for the 21st Century List Price: ~~$17.95~~ Price: $14.98 Read Reviews

Equity also operates in our personal relationships. Have you ever felt that you are doing a lot for one of your friends, but that friend isn’t doing much for you? How long does that friendship last?

Inputs: time you spend with your friend, time you spend listening to your friend’s problems, money you loan to your friend, favors you do for your friend.
Outcomes: amount of time your friend listens to your problems, willingness of your friend to loan you money, favors you get from your friend, prestige you get from hanging around with this friend

The Office: Keys to Job Satisfaction Price: $7.95 Read Reviews