Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

Another violent act in America. Another man who committed it. Why do men in our society seem to always be the ones who carry out violent acts? Is it how we bring up boys? Or is there another influence - genes. I was lucky enough to get professor Steve Stewart-Williams, author of the book The Ape That Understood the Universe, so come back to the show and share more about the evolutionary Psychology perspective on this complex issue. And by the way, you can use the promo code APE20 to purchase this book at Cambridge University Press at a 20 percent discount. You’re going to find this discussion very interesting.

Dr. Nancy Haug, an expert in addiction treatment and cannabis research from Palo Alto University and Stanford, dives into the evolving role of cannabis in mental health. She discusses the surprising demographics at medical dispensaries and the critical role of trained staff, or 'bud tenders,' in guiding patients. Nancy advocates for careful consideration of cannabis treatment, especially for those with addiction histories, and emphasizes the importance of ongoing research. Plus, she explores vaping trends among adolescents, weighing its potential and risks.

The printed word has been around for a long time. Bet you thought there was nothing new in how we put words together in a book or website.  Well, guess again. Researchers at Asymmetrica have drawn upon a tried and true memory strategy called "chunking" and applied it to - get this - the amount of white space between words.  Would we be able to improve literacy if we ever so slightly adjusted the amount of space between words so that it better reflected our everyday speech patters? Psychologist Chris Nicolas has been tinkering with these word spaces and I think you'll be surprised at what he's doing.

We often like it when things are explained to us clearly, but would you believe that sometimes it's better if you're just down-right confused? You could actually learn more if at some point in the learning process you feel like you don't know what's going on.  In part 2 of my interview with researcher and professor Jeremiah Sullins, we talk about much more you could learn if you spend a little time being absolutely perplexed at what's going on.  You may have heard of this as "desirable difficulties", well here we dig in and find out when it's good for teachers (and students) when everything is not completely clear.

Why do you vote the way you do? Have you read through all the various candidates position statements, or do you just kinda go with your "gut"? Jeremiah Sullins, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Harding University has looked at this question in great depth and he's found some really interesting answers to this question.  I think you'll really enjoy hearing about his research into your voting behavior.