Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files
Psychology & Relationships
About
The Psych Files is a podcast for anyone interested in the topic of psychology and how ideas in this field apply to everyday life. Michael Britt brings you an upbeat, fun podcast of interest to everyone from psychology majors to those just interested in why people do what they do.
Episodes
- "I'm Getting Old" — And That Thought Might Be Killing You
Do you catch yourself saying "I'm getting old" more than you'd like to admit? Turns out, that habit might be doing more damage than you think. Psychologist Becca Levy of Yale has spent decades studying how our aging mindset — the beliefs w…
- Actors Don't Really Memorize Lines!
Why do some people remember things effortlessly while others repeat information over and over and still forget it? In this episode, Michael looks at what research on actors reveals about how memory really works. Drawing on studies by psych…
- Latest Research: Anthropomorphism and Dementia
In this episode of The Psych Files, I explore anthropomorphism—our tendency to attribute human characteristics to non-human entities—drawing from Justin Gregg's new book "Humanish." I discuss both helpful and harmful examples of anthropomo…
- The Surprising Psychology Behind Effortless Line Memorization
When I receive a new script, my first step surprises people. I create an audio recording of every scene I’m in – not just my lines, but everyone’s lines. Using apps like LineLearner, I record each cue line followed by my response, all deli…
- Why Are We So Polite to AI?
When we say "please" or "thank you" to ChatGPT, we're witnessing the remarkable power of human social psychology in action. Our brains have developed such deeply ingrained social scripts over millions of years that they automatically activ…
- The Song "Yesterday," Manhood, and the Fear of Vulnerability
In this episode of The Psych Files, I explore the fascinating intersection between music, psychology, and gender roles through subtle lyric changes in Paul McCartney’s timeless song, “Yesterday.” I focus specifically on why iconic male sin…
- Study Hack: Use ChatGPT to Ace Your Exams! | Self-Explanation Effect
Discover how to leverage ChatGPT and other AI tools to dramatically improve your learning and test performance! In this video, I explain a powerful study technique called the "self-explanation effect" and show you exactly how to combine it…
- Lost in the Click: Exploring the Browser Doorway Effect
The Blank Tab Effect: A Modern Doorway Phenomenon Have you ever switched to a new browser tab, only to find yourself staring at a blank page and wondering why you opened it in the first place? This common experience is strikingly similar t…
- Beck's Cognitive Distortions: An AI-Powered Learning Activity
In my recent exploration of artificial intelligence, I stumbled upon a fascinating article entitled, “Instructors as Innovators: a Future-focused Approach to New AI Learning Opportunities, With Prompts" which introduced the concept of goal…
- Paralyzed by Fear: Exploring Tonic Immobility in Sexual Assault
In this episode of "The Psych Files," we delve into the complex and sensitive topic of sexual assault, focusing particularly on the phenomenon of tonic immobility, often referred to as "frozen fright." This involuntary response can leave v…
- Cloning Voices: Scary Maybe, But Also Therapeutic?
I'm about as worried as anyone else about how the new tools for cloning voices could be used by "bad actors" to clone the voices of politicians to make them say things they never said and possibly further polarize our country before an imp…
- The Psychology of Music: The Role of Expectations and Minor Chords
How does music affect us emotionally? Why do minor chords sound so sad? In this episode of The Psych Files I explore ideas from Daniel Leviton's fascinating book, Your Brain on Music, especially those ideas concerned with what composers do…
- My 3 Favorite Psych Articles This Week - March 8, 2024
In this episode of The Psych Files, host Michael Britt explores three fascinating new psychology studies. First, research found that making hospital alarms more musical could help prevent dangerous mistakes caused by alarm fatigue. Next, s…
- From Insane Asylum to Psychiatric Center: A Brief History
When we look back at the history of psychiatric care, it’s evident that practices and treatments have evolved tremendously over the years. Dr. Roger Christenfeld, the Research Director of the Hudson River Psychiatric Center, provides a uni…
- Episode 104: Can Positive Affirmations Improve Your Self Esteem?
Can positive affirmations help raise your self esteem? People use daily affirmations and money affirmations to help them feel more confident, build their self esteem and bring positive events into their lives. But do they really work? If n…
- Episode 64: Self Help Book - How To Tell if It's Any Good
Self Help books: why are there so many out there? How do you choose? Can they cure depression? Help you lose weight? Stop smoking? Can they replace psychotherapy? Find out how to weed out the best self-help book from all the others. Here's…
- How to Remember Names
It's hard to remember names - here's how to do it. You'll use your imagination and some weird imagery - but this works. Here's another great use of mnemonics. I'll give you a bunch of people's names and describe the images I created to hel…
- Part 2: How Do Actors Memorize All Those Lines?
Here is part 2 of my interview with author and actor Jared Kelner. In this episode he tells how he uses the DSM (Diagnotic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) in his work as an actor. We also talk a little more about his use of mne…
- How Do Actors Memorize Lines? Interview With Jared Kelner
You have no doubt asked yourself this question after watching a play: "How did those actors memorize all those lines?". In previous episodes of The Psych Files I have discussed a few of the techniques actors use to do this, but on this epi…
- Do Brain Training Games Work?
You've probably heard about these Brain Training games. Do they really help you keep your mind sharp? Will they prevent cognitive decline as you get older or will they slow the effects of Alzheimer's disease? In this episode I review some…
- How Actors Use the "Number-Shape" Mnemonic Technique
Another of my episodes on mnemonic techniques you can use for just about any purpose. I recently discovered a pegword system in a great book called, " Line? ". It's a book for actors that was written by a memory expert like myself, Jared K…
- Questionable Research - With A Famous Psychologist Involved
Might you be able to rid yourself of an illness by "turning back the clock"? That is, by immersing yourself in a time in your life when you were not ill? We know that thinking about things in a positive way - which we sometimes call "refra…
- Actors Use Keywords to Memorize Lines
I explain how the keyword mnemonic technique can help actors memorize their lines. It's an effective and fun strategy you can use in the beginning when you're first learning lines, or during performance if something really unexpected happe…
- Human Emotions: The Two Factor Theory
Where do our emotions come from? From our thoughts? Or do they begin somewhere else – like in our bodies? This week we look at the work of James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, and Schachter and Singer. Also, I review two classic studies in the histor…
- Games and Videos as Therapeutic Tools: Dr. Anna Vagin (part 2)
In part 2 of my interview with Dr. Anna Vagin, she talks about some of the videos she uses to help kids and teens better understand the emotions and challenges of characters in the videos and how those characters dealt with their difficult…
- Using TableTop Games and Videos in Therapy: Interview with Anna Vagin
In part 1 of my interview with Anna Vagin, Ph.D. we talk about how she uses games and videos as part of her work with children and adolescents. I think you’ll be surprised how Dr. Vagin uses short videos she finds on YouTube in her session…
- How Psychology Gets You To Slow Down While Driving
How can we use a little psychology to get you to slow down when you’re driving? You’d be surprised. Very often road signs like “Slow” or a posted speed limit of, say 20 mph does not work. Drivers go past these signs and nothing bad happens…
- The TV Show Luther, Logical Thinking and Crinkly Plates to Lose Weight
Here’s a new piece of weight-loss advice: eat on a crinkly plate! Um…sounds weird. It is kinda, but we’ll explore why this might be a good bit of advice. We’ll also take a minute and a half sound byte from the TV show Luther and wring all…
- The Psychology of Tipping
How can waiters increase their tips? Would you believe psychologists have devoted a great deal of research to this question? We've looked at the effect of smiley faces, touching, crouching, telling jokes, giving customers a fun task to do,…
- How Smart Do You Want Your Fitness Tracker to Be?
Fitness tracking devices are getting smarter. They're going to have to get a lot smarter if they are going to be powerful tools in your quest to be fit. But how much more "smart" do we really want them to get? Today they keep track of you…
- How to Prevent Violence in Your Neighborhood
Passengers on an airplane spring to action when a stewardess needs help – but a neighborhood in New York City does very little when a woman is attacked. What’s different ? How can we take what we learn from the airplane and apply it to the…
- Adele Faber Interview on Parenting (Part 2)
In part 2 of my interview with Adele Faber, co-author along with Elaine Mazlish of “How To Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk” we talk about what do do when you’ve got nothing left emotionally to give to your children, h…
- Adele Faber Interview on Parenting (Part 1)
Are you familiar with Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish‘s classic book “How To Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk“? You should be. It’s not just for parents. The ideas in this book and in their other books should be require…
- Racial Divide: Why Does It Happen? How We Can Fix It
Why does conflict emerge as it did in Baltimore among the police and the African-American community? Is it caused by poor parenting? Poverty? Joblessness? I provide a psychological perspective on the situation. I look at how stereotypes de…
- What is Music Therapy?
Interested in Music Therapy? Music therapy, which is often used with children with autism, can also be used in the classroom to help children learn patterns. In this interview music therapist Kamile Geist talks about types and techniques o…
- What Can We Do To End Anti-Gay Bullying in Schools?
What can we do to end bullying against gays? There is a shocking increase in the number of young homosexuals who are commit suicide. Many anti-bullying programs don't work and in this episode I talk to Dr. Elizabeth J. Meyer of Concordia U…
- How To Create a Human-Like Voice
Have you used Siri, Hey Google, or Alexa? These voice-enabled digital assistants are pretty cool and getting smarter, but why do some of them sound more like a "person" than others? What is it about your voice that makes people believe tha…
- Want to Swap Bodies?
What if you could swap bodies with someone else? What would it be like to be someone of the opposite sex? A different race? We’re getting darn close to being able to do that with new techniques like the Rubber Hand Illusion, the Enfacement…
- Manhood: Are You A "Real Man"?
Why does it seem that males in many cultures have to prove their manhood? Do women have to prove their womanhood? Why is this and what happens when men feel like they are less than a man? In this review of a recent research article entitle…
- Testosterone Doesn't Necessarily Cause Men to be Aggressive
Most of us assume that one of the reasons men tend to act aggressively is that men have higher levels of testosterone. Let's take a look at this "testosterone myth" because this isn't always the case. In fact, in some cases, the higher lev…
- The Secret Life of Pronouns - an Interview with James Pennebaker
What do you reveal about yourself in the way you use the smallest and seemingly most insignificant words you use every minute? That's the focus of Dr. James Pennebaker's fascinating book and one of the most interesting psychology books of…
- In the Movies, Why Does the Woman Always Have to Die? And Other Gender Stereotypes
What can we learn from an old, dusty book I found in the basement? Well, if that book is about gender role stereotypes then there's a lot of things to uncover that explain why boys and girls act the way they do. In this episode we get an e…
- Owning Bipolar: A Conversation with Michael Pipich - Part 2
This is part 2 of my interview with Michael Pipich, author of the book, Owning Bipolar. In this part of the interview Michael discusses his therapeutic approach to treating Bipolar Disorder. If you have been diagnosed with bipolar or know…
- An Example of How Psychoanalysts Really Interpret Dreams
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 dreams had a manifest content (the people and…
- Owning Bipolar: A Conversation with Michael Pipich - Part 1
Bipolar (previously known as "manic depression") is often a difficult disorder to diagnose, much less to live with. If you have been diagnosed with bipolar or know someone who has, this episode is for you. Michael Pipich brings his 30 year…
- Why Do You Talk To Your Dog Like That? And Does It Understand You?
Alright, let’s all admit it – we talk to our pets in that funny pet voice. “Who’s a good dog?” Well, there’s been a lot of research on your use of this voice to talk to your dog as well how you talk to babies. What exactly are you doing wi…
- Trauma Recovery with Dr. Matt Jaremko
If you’re suffering from the effects of a trauma in your life or know someone who is, then listen to Dr. Matt Jaremko talk about his new book with Beth Fehlbaum called Trauma Recovery: Sessions With Dr. Matt. Dr. Jaremko’s approach to ther…
- The Psychology of A Quiet Place and Mission Impossible
Did you see the movie A Quiet Place? How about Mission Impossible? It’s always fun to analyze movies from a psychological perspective and that’s what I do in this episode. A Quiet Place has a lot of family dynamics issues going on but Miss…
- Motivational Interviewing and the TV Show Columbo
Hopefully you've watched the TV show Columbo. Curious about what this character has to do with psychology? You'd be surprised. In this episode I analyze Columbo in terms of the psychological technique called motivational interviewing. I al…
- It's So Fluffy!
Have you ever seen something so cute you just want to squeeze it - to death? Or a child so cute you want to pinch it's cheeks really hard? Why do we have these odd, powerful, opposite feelings? It's called "cute aggression" and we'll try t…