Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

There is a lot of talk about mindfulness among psychologists today. Find out what mindfulness is and how it differs from meditation in this episode of The Psych Files.  What might you use mindfulness…

What do psychologists really think about your dreams - do they have meaning?  In this episode I talk about what psychologists think today about dreams.  You probably know that Freud thought that drea…

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 impressi…

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 abo…

We have some great articles covered in this episode so I hope you find them thought-provoking. We cover four topics, all of which can be relevant to your everyday life.  First, a throwback to a previ…

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 s…

How would you like to have an argument?  Turns out that learning how to have a good argument might just be the best way to learn to think critically.  In this episode I discuss a neat piece of resear…

Everyone was horrified to hear that an adolescent, Adam Lanza, walked into an elementary school and killed 20 children and 6 adults as well as killing himself.  Many people have offered their view as…

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 t…

In episode 183 I talked about what critical thinking is and why it's important.  Now we talk about why it's so darn hard to teach and to use critical thinking in our everyday lives.  In this episode …

Why does it concern psychologists that the Texas GOP platform recently opposed the teaching of critical thinking?  Most of us have been told since we were very young that critical thinking is very im…

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 e…

Let's talk sports psychology.  When you participate in a sport do you talk to yourself?  Do you try to "psych yourself up", or do you give yourself instructions on how to hold a part of your body or …

What is your body position revealing about you?  Some things are obvious - you probably know that crossed arms indicate a certain distrust.  There are also flirting gestures that I'll bet you think y…

Do women who work in typically male dominated jobs "play down" their femininity in order to be gain more respect from their male co-workers?  In this episode we'll explore this stereotype threat as w…

An audio in which I explain 5 study techniques that have solid research support.  These techniques will help students get better grades on their tests.

There is a lot of talk these days about a fascinating idea called embodied cognition.  What is it exactly?  In this lively interview I talk with two people who are actively looking into this question…

In this follow-up to episode 176 I discuss two more reasons why I believe some people either don't like or just distrust psychology: 1) the belief that it is not a science, and 2) the belief - create…

Why do so many people have strongly negative feelings about the field of psychology?  I think there are a handful of reasons and in this episode I talk about two of them: the so-called "self-esteem m…

Have psychologists recently found evidence for the existence of psychic ability?  Last year, well-known psychologist Daryl Bem published an article called Feeling the Future in which he describes a n…