All In The Mind

As part of our program about Resilience, Lynne spoke with former Olympian - and now medical doctor - Jana Pittman. We thought you'd like to hear the full interview.

As Lynne Malcolm gets ready for life outside the ABC, she’s been thinking about how all of us cope with changes and challenges, and how our sense of ourselves is influenced by our surroundings. This has become even more relevant for us as we get through the COVID-19 pandemic.

What happens in our brain when we make assumptions about people who don’t seem to be like us – when they may look, speak, or behave differently. And can brain science help us to override our potential prejudices? I explore some research on this topic, which specifically looks at how we perceive other people, animals, and things outside ourselves - such as technology.

The rate of suicide in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities is double that of non-Indigenous people in Australia, and it’s reached a crisis point – particularly amongst the young.  In this NAIDOC week 2020 we hear from researchers and practitioners, and those with lived experience about the best strategies to stem the tide of indigenous suicide  

Folk wisdom suggests that playing ‘hard to get’ can help you attract a potential partner. But many psychologists have been skeptical about whether it does have an effect in dating. Over the past few years several new studies on the effect have aimed to pin down the rare circumstances where it might actually be effective.

Lynne Malcolm's extended interview with Timothy Carey about how he applies his perspective on control to address inequality in Rwandan society.

We all have a natural need for a sense of control in our lives – but the over-controlling kind can get out of hand. People with a psychopathic personality disorder are highly skilled in manipulative techniques – which can wreak havoc if you’re on the receiving end. But every-day controlling behaviour may be getting an unfair bad rap – and may be essential for our wellbeing.

Claims about human psychology and behaviour in top international journals are largely based on the WEIRDest people in the world. People from Western Educated Industrialised Rich Democratic - or WEIRD - societies are widely used as research subjects, but the assumption that they represent a universal human population may be vastly wrong, and skew psychological research. More cultural psychology could be the answer.

The mind contains everything we think and feel – our experiences are created by the brain, mostly without our awareness. This makes it pretty much impossible to fully know the mind of others. Research shows that, to ensure our survival, the brain constantly attempts to predict what will happen next.

When you're near coriander or parmesan cheese, do you smell fresh sweetness or vomit and soap?