Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

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 important.  Psychologists certainly agree and a lot of time spent in most psychology classes is spent learning how to think critically.  Why is it such a central part of our classes?  And here's a kicker: it might be a lot harder to teach it than we had hoped.  Find out why critical thinking is so central to psychology.  Sounds kinda dry?  I think you'll find this a lot of fun (in a mental kind of way…).

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.  

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 how much energy to exert or when to hold back?  This is the kind of self-talk that psychologists study and it's interesting to learn when you say these things to yourself and when they'll be most effective.  Also, some athletes feel that time slows down for them and they can really "see the ball".  Every happen to you?  Let's find out what's going on in your brain when these kinds of time illusions (or "chronostasis") events occur.  Some fascinating stuff from the world of sports psychology

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 you know well (like women playing with their hair and men sticking out their chests), but what about your thumbs?  My thumbs?  Yes, you might well be revealing something about yourself by where you're putting them would you believe.  Listen in as I talk with Craig Baxter, owner of the website All-About-Body-Language.com who will tell us a bit more about the fascinating topic of body language.

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 well as something you may not have heard of: the lipstick effect.  How do men and women change their appearance or their behavior during times of economic depression?  In this all-gender episode we look at these issues as well as why the new Volkswagen Beetle has changed its appearance.  Yes, the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle has become more masculine, but why?

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.  We discuss how the body and mind "talk" to each other when baseball players catch fly balls and what role psychology plays in the design of robots.

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 - created by the media - that psychologists make a lot of money for giving out common sense advice.  I hope you'll see that psychology is not unlike other sciences in that we study something extremely complex and yes, sometimes our findings are contradictory and they change over time.  Also, the media focuses - as usual - on only the most unlikely behavior of psychologists (like having sex with patients) or portraying them as having messed up personal lives.  Let's find out the truth (well, at least from one psychologist's perspective).

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 movement" and the "positive thinking" movement.  Are psychologists responsible for why "kids today" appear to be so self-centered? Do psychologists think that changing yourself is as simple as just changing the way you think?  Hear one psychologists opinion on this and my explanation on two reasons why I think maybe you hate psychology.  Just hear me out.

In the market for a car?  Believe me: they have seen you coming and they are ready to use some sophisticated techniques to persuade you to buy.  Be prepared.  Watch this episode of The Psych Files and learn how the persuasion techniques described by psychologist Robert Cialdini are being used to change your attitudes and behavior to align with the goals of the salesman.