Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

How can a waiter increase his tips? Would you believe that psychologists have devoted a great deal of research to this question? We've looked at the effect of smiley faces, touching, telling jokes, giving customers a fun task to do, drawing suns (yes, suns) on checks and many others. Join me as we take a look at what waiters and waitresses can do to increase the amount of the tip their customers give them.

Still looking for an alternative to Time out? If you are a teacher, a childcare worker, or anyone who works with kids and is frustrated at the fact that for some children time out just doesn't work. In fact, for some kids time out may actually be a reward because of the popularity it may provide for them from other kids. If you're worried that time out is not helping, and that the child is headed down a road of developing a personal identity that includes rebel or troublemaker and the end of that road can only be jail, then you need to listen to Dr. Ross Green talk about Collaborative Problem Solving. We need to treat children different today and this approach holds a lot of insights into that new approach.

Dr. Ross Green, author of The Explosive Child, has just published his second book, Lost at School in which he shows how the principles of Collaborative Problem Solving can be used by teachers and other caregivers in school settings. If timeout hasn't worked for you as a parent or teacher, and especially if you're a teacher dealing with "problem kids", then perhaps you should look into Collaborative Problem Solving. Join me for another fascinating interview with Dr. Ross Green.

Do subliminal messages in self-help tapes really work? There actually is some evidence that people can be influenced by subliminal messages. Can your self-esteem be raised with subliminal tapes? Can subliminal persuasion help you lose weight? Are there even subliminal messages in Disney files?? Are there subliminal messages in advertising that can make you buy certain products? These questions answered once and for all at The Psych Files podcast.

The Foot in the Door and the Door in the Face are two classic social influence techniques that have been heavily studied by psychologists. However, until now, no one has attempted them in a virtual world. Join me for this fascinating conversation with Paul Eastwick, who along with Dr. Wendy Gardner from Northwestern University ventured into There.com to see if these very effective real-world techniques were equally effective on avatars.

On The Folly of Rewarding A While Hoping For B is a well known article by Steven Kerr that appeared in The Academy of Management Executive. Want an example of how insightful Steven Kerr was with this article that is still relevant today? Look no further than the US election and Comedy Central.

Can horses be used for corporate training or is this nonsense? If you listened to the NPR piece called, "Horse Sense: New Breed Of Executive Training" you might have had the same reaction I did: sounds a little "fishy". Find out why "Clever Hans" just might be alive and well in the field of management training.

Have you heard that president Abraham Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy and president John F. Kennedy had a secretary named Lincoln? In this episode of The Psych Files we explore strange coincidences like this one and we also examine Carl Jung's concept of Synchronicity. Does it mean that everything happens for a reason - or is the idea more complex than that? Let's find out. Oh and by the way - turns out Lincoln never had a secretary named Kennedy. This and more revealed on The Psych Files podcast.

Remember the psychological study conducted in a men's room? Think it was silly? Unethical? Let's revisit this study and take a close look at what the critics say and what the authors themselves have to say in response. A fascinating look at the ethics and history of research in psychology.

Psychologists say that winning the silver medal - coming in second - is actually less satisfying than coming in third - the bronze. Why is that? Sounds weird, but it also sounds right, doesn't it? Have you ever come in second in a contest or received an A- instead of an A? Find out why winning the silver is...a bummer.