The Psych Files
Mental
The Psych Files is a podcast for anyone who wonders why we do what we do. Experienced educator Michael Britt, Ph.D., in an upbeat and friendly style, shows you how ideas from the field of psychology apply to everyday life. If you are a life-long learner, a student or a teacher, you will find his 20-30 minute episodes enjoyable and educational. Over 14 million episodes have been downloaded to date with over 100,000 people listening every month. See what all the talk is about!
Location:
New York, NY
Description:
The Psych Files is a podcast for anyone who wonders why we do what we do. Experienced educator Michael Britt, Ph.D., in an upbeat and friendly style, shows you how ideas from the field of psychology apply to everyday life. If you are a life-long learner, a student or a teacher, you will find his 20-30 minute episodes enjoyable and educational. Over 14 million episodes have been downloaded to date with over 100,000 people listening every month. See what all the talk is about!
Twitter:
@mbritt
Language:
English
Website:
http://www.thepsychfiles.com
Episodes
New Podcast You're Going to Love
8/12/2019
I talk about tech many times here on The Psych Files so where do I learn about Phone Addiction, Voice Assistants, Smart Watches and so forth? By listening to tech podcasts. There's a new one out I really like. It's called Waveform with MKBHD and I've got a clip from the show to listen to. I'm already learning a lot so check it out! Click here (http://bit.ly/WaveformPF) to subscribe to Waveform with MKBHD
Duration:00:09:33
Ep 329: Beauty and the Beast: Psychological Themes
7/17/2019
I'll bet you're like me and you enjoyed the Disney musical Beauty and the Beast. As wonderful a story it is, let's take a moment just to acknowledge that there are some themes in the show that are, well, not so nice. I’ll take a look at this show from an angle of toxic masculinity in the Gaston character and possibly co-dependency in the relationship between Belle and the Beast. I promise - it'll still be fun.
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Want to master the tricks to a great memory?
As you know,...
Duration:00:27:03
Ep 327: The Team Behind Q - World's First Genderless Digital Voice
6/19/2019
In the last episode I talked about the potential downside to having most of our digital assistants speak to us using a female voice. "Q" - will give us an option. Here's my interview with Emil Rasmussen, who will give you some of the background behind Q and his hopes for the future of Q.
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Want to master the tricks to a great memory?
As you know, I’m a huge fan of mnemonics and how useful they can be, so I’ve brought all of my episodes on this topic together, as well...
Duration:00:18:44
Ep 326: Giving Voice To Our Digital Assistants
6/5/2019
Why do our digital assistants such as Alexa, Google Home, Siri and Cortana have "feminized" voices and what are the effects of this trend? That's what I explore in this episode. Are there negative effects of using female voices in the devices we talk to and who talk to us? Are there alternatives? Turns out there is an alternative - a "genderless" voice. What does that sound like? Tune in to find out as we explore gender roles, expectations and equality.
I’d Blush If I CouldWe tested...
Duration:00:24:11
Ep 323: Computer Programmers: Obsessed With Efficiency
4/17/2019
Do you have your own little “tricks”? That is, ways of doing things that are faster than how you used to do them? Well, congratulations, you’re something of an efficiency expert. And if you can picture an assembly line of people putting products together, then you’ve seen one way of increasing productivity. But some of us are really, really obsessed with efficiency and often those people are computer programmers. Some of them, as you’ll hear from Clive Thompson (author of “Coders: The Making...
Duration:00:38:07
Ep 322: An Introduction to Cross Cultural Psychology
4/3/2019
Why is it okay - in some cultures - to jaywalk, while in others you could get arrested for jaywalking? Why was marijuana was sold - legally - for years in the streets of Amsterdam when it is only now become legal in the US? The reason: some cultures are what author Michele Gelfand calls "loose" and others are "tight". Here's my first episode on cross-cultural psychology and I think you're going to really enjoy listening to professor Gelfand to find out how our culture's norms shape our...
Duration:00:38:30
Introducing One Plus One
2/19/2019
Every great collaboration is a love story. It’s intense. Passionate. Along the way, there are flashes of love, hate, pride, ego, ambition, and brilliance. This is One Plus One, the show about the spark that drives two original thinkers to ultimate success. We’ll unearth the stories of Paul McCartney & John Lennon, Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera, Beyonce & Jay-Z, Shaq & Kobe, and many more, and learn what it is about their chemistry that led them to greatness. Subscribe to One Plus One today at...
Duration:00:10:38
Ep317: It's So Fluffy! Cuteness Makes Us Aggressive
12/12/2018
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 to explain it in this episode. We'll also look at the bullying in Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, sexual coercion in the song, "Baby, It's Cold Outside" and yet another nail in the coffin for our non-existent "learning styles".
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Want to...
Duration:00:30:07
Ep 316: Motivational Interviewing and the TV Show Columbo
11/30/2018
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 along with the Jennifer Garner movie, "Peppermint". I also explain why you remember how to ride a bike but can't remember where you put your cell phone.
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Want to master the tricks to a great memory?
As you know, I’m a huge fan of mnemonics and how useful they can be, so I’ve brought all of my episodes on this...
Duration:00:26:13
Ep 314: Trauma Recovery with Dr. Matt Jaremko
10/30/2018
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 therapy with trauma victims is straightforward and respectful. It's about helping survivors get their confidence back and move forward. Students of psychology will also see how the ideas of Albert Bandura and Arnold Lazarus come together in a fascinating...
Duration:00:38:26
Ep 313: Owning Bipolar: A Conversation with Michael Pipich
10/22/2018
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 trearting Bipolar Disorder.If you have been diagnosed with bipolar or know someone who has, this episode is for you. Michael Pipich brings his 30 years of experience together in his new book, Owning Bipolar.
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Want to master the tricks to a great memory?
As you know, I’m a huge fan of mnemonics and how...
Duration:00:13:39
Ep 312: Owning Bipolar: A Conversation with Michael Pipich
10/15/2018
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 years of experience together in his new book, Owning Bipolar. In part 1 of my interview with him, we discuss what exactly is bipolar and why it is difficult to diagnose.
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Want to master the tricks to a great memory?
As you know, I’m a...
Duration:00:24:20
Ep 311: The Ape That Understood the Universe
10/3/2018
How are men and women different - really? There's plenty of debate over this, but how this: examine the differences between males and females across a wide variety of species. What are the reliable differences we see again and again? That's exactly what author Steve Stewart-Williams has done in his latest book, The Ape That Understood the Universe. If you're interested in evolutionary Psychology you've come to the right place. Fascinating discussion.
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Want to master the...
Duration:00:36:09
Ep 310: How To Memorize Psychiatric Medications
9/18/2018
Having a hard time memorizing psychiatric medications and which disorder they are used to treat? These memory tricks will get them into your head in minutes - and they'll stick so you can get a better grade on your test. I've got ways to remember 12 medications like Zoloft, Prozac, Ritalin, Adderall, Lithium, and more - and which diagnosis (Depression, Anxiety, Psychosis, etc.) the drug is used to treat. Don't spend hours in rote memorization - use these memory tools...
Duration:00:33:17
Ep 309: College Teaching Needs To Change
9/7/2018
College teaching needs to change. This doesn't mean using a new fad technique. It doesn't mean dumbing anything down to get "today's students". It does mean that professors need to adopt more of the approaches to teaching that Ken Bain identified in his must-read book, "What The Best College Teachers Do". In this episode I describe one of the key ideas from the book and I show how they could be applied in two specific examples.
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Want to master the tricks to a great...
Duration:00:37:43
Ep 307: Do Those i-Statements Actually Work and Did Koko Really Use Language as We Do?
7/10/2018
Remember those "i-statements" you're supposed to use when you get mad at someone? "I feel ____ when you ____ because ____". Does that actually work? Does talking in this way resolve problems better and not get the other person defensive? We're going to find out. Also, Koko the gorilla died recently. But did she really master sign language? Or is there less to this story than first appears? In this episode we put on our critical thinking caps and take a look.
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Want to...
Duration:00:35:47
Ep 305: In the Movies, Why Does the Woman Always Have to Die? And Other Gender Stereotypes
5/31/2018
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 example of qualitative research by really diving into the book called "Those We Love". How do books shape who we think we are and how we act as adults?
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Want to master the tricks to a great memory?
As you know, I’m a huge fan...
Duration:00:29:14
Ep 304: Guess What? Testosterone Doesn't Neccessarily Cause Men to be Aggressive
5/5/2018
Most of us assume 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 levels of testosterone actually cause men to be MORE NICE than usual. Don't believe it? Let's take a look at what author Robert Sapolsky has to teach us about the true and subtle effects of testosterone. I think you'll be surprised.
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Want to...
Duration:00:21:15
Ep 302: Violent Extremism: What's the Psychology Behind It?
4/5/2018
What draws people toward violent extremist groups? Psychologists have conducted a lot of research to find this out and in this episode I summarize the findings of key researchers in this area. Researchers Arie Kruglanski, Katarzyna Jasko, David Webber, Chernikova and Erica Molinario explain how their theory, called SQT or Significance Quest Theory explains what leads young men to join extremist groups.
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Want to master the tricks to a great memory?
As you know, I’m a...
Duration:00:27:25
Ep 301: The Role of CTE in the Life of Aaron Hernandez
3/15/2018
You have probably heard a lot about football and CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy), the brain degeneration that results from repeated head impacts. One of the worst cases so far of CTE was found in the brain of football player Aaron Hernandez. The Oxygen network produced a fascinating account of Hernandez's life entitled Aaron Hernandez Uncovered and I was asked to participate in a panel discussion with other podcasters in which I talk about CTE as well as Toxic Masculinity. Here's the...
Duration:00:58:05