Speaking of Psychology

Just in time for Friday the 13th, we discuss the psychology of superstition with Stuart Vyse, PhD, author of the book “Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition.” Vyse discusses the origins of some popular superstitions, the psychological purposes superstition serves, and whether or not it’s possible that your lucky charm or pre-game ritual might actually help you perform better. Listener Survey - https://www.apa.org/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaking of Psychology is taking a one-week summer break, so we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes from the past year. In February, we talked to University of California, Berkeley psychologist Alison Gopnik about how children’s brains are optimized to explore the world and the implications that this has for human evolution, how we think about the purpose of childhood, how we raise and educate our children, the role of grandparents in teaching the next generation, and even how we might develop artificial intelligence systems inspired by children’s remarkable learning abilities. Listener Survey - https://www.apa.org/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The word “burnout” has become ubiquitous -- it seems to sum up the stress and exhaustion and disaffection that many of us are feeling this year. But are workers really more burned out than ever? And what does the term burnout actually mean? How does burnout differ from fatigue or stress? How do you know if you’re burned out? And what can individuals, employers and society do to combat workplace burnout? Dr. Christina Maslach answers these and other questions.  Listener Survey - https://www.apa.org/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than 4% of people have some form of synesthesia, a neurological condition that causes senses to link and merge. People with synesthesia may taste words, hear colors, or see calendar dates arrayed in physical space. Dr. Julia Simner, a professor of neuropsychology at the University of Sussex in the U.K., discusses the many forms of synesthesia, how synesthetes experience the world, and what scientists have learned from brain imaging studies about synesthesia. She also discusses her research on other sensory differences such as misophonia, an extreme aversion to specific sounds. Listener Survey - https://www.apa.org/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

These days, many companies use assessments such as personality tests as part of the hiring process or in career development programs. Fred Oswald, PhD, director of the Organization and Workforce Laboratory at Rice University, discusses why companies use these tests, what employers and workers can learn from them, and how new technologies, including artificial intelligence, are changing workplace assessments. Listener Survey - https://www.apa.org/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you ever feel like a phony? Like you’re not really qualified for the job you’re doing, despite your achievements? Those are signs of the impostor phenomenon, also called impostor syndrome. Dr. Lisa Orbé-Austin, a counseling psychologist and career coach in New York City, and Dr. Kevin Cokley, a University of Texas at Austin psychology professor who studies the impostor phenomenon among ethnic minority students, discuss where impostor feelings come from, the repercussions they can have in people’s lives, and what you can do to address imposter feelings. Listener Survey - https://www.apa.org/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many Americans are headed back to the office this summer, but fault lines are emerging between some companies’ expectations for in-person work and their employees’ desire to continue working remotely. Tsedal Neeley, PhD, a professor at Harvard Business School and author of “Remote Work Revolution: Succeeding from Anywhere,” discusses the future of the post-pandemic office, how the pandemic has changed office culture and how employees and companies can both thrive in the new world of remote and hybrid work. Listener Survey - https://www.apa.org/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the past decades, the focus of LGBTQ activism has shifted and evolved, from the AIDS crisis in the 1980s to the fight for marriage equality to the focus on transgender rights today. Peter Hegarty, PhD, author of the book “A Recent History of Lesbian and Gay Psychology: From Homophobia to LGBT,” discusses how psychological research has reflected and responded to these changes, how it has helped move the needle in the fight for LGBTQ rights in the U.S. court system, and his own research on “auditory gaydar” and continuing discrimination against LGBTQ people. Listener Survey - https://www.apa.org/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is psychology research in a crisis or a renaissance? Over the past decade, scientists have realized that many published research results, including some classic findings in psychology, don’t always hold up to repeat trials. Brian Nosek, PhD, of the Center for Open Science, discusses how psychologists are leading a movement to address that problem, in psychology and in other scientific fields, by changing the way that research studies get funded, conducted and published. Listener Survey - https://www.apa.org/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guns killed nearly 44,000 Americans in 2020, a higher number than in any other year in the past two decades. Meanwhile, a spate of mass shootings in the spring brought gun violence to the forefront of the national conversation again. Susan Sorenson, PhD, director of the Ortner Center on Violence and Abuse at the University of Pennsylvania, discusses what we know about the causes and consequences of gun violence in the United States and whether research can offer any insight into how to prevent it. Listener Survey - https://www.apa.org/podcastsurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices