"If your friends were named Cliff would you jump off 'em?!" - Hugh Neutron

Today we discuss how being in a group can influence our behavior and what we can do about it. 

Look out for future episodes as we discuss topics such as compassion, the benefits of cleanliness, and how researchers decide when something causes something else. 

References: 

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/bay-of-pigs

Asch, S. E. (1956). Studies of independence and conformity: I A minority of one against a unanimous majority. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 70(9), 1–70.

Amir, T. (1984). The Asch conformity effect: A study in Kuwait. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 12(2), 187–190.

Cohen, G. L. (2003). Party Over Policy: The Dominating Impact of Group Influence on Political Beliefs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(5), 808–822.

This week we had the opportunity to join our friend Monson on his podcast "Life Must Go On." On LMGO they seek to help those who are going through difficult things to find hope and the courage to keep moving forward. We discussed factors that help people deal with the difficulties that life throws at them. We also shared a story of a forest fire in Montana many years ago that has spurred research into how we make sense of ourselves and our situations when we experience something difficult or otherwise life-changing. 

Have any questions, feedback, ideas for a future episode, or concerns? Reach out to us at [email protected]

References: 

Weick, K. E. (1993). The collapse of sensemaking in organizations: The Mann Gulch disaster. Administrative Science Quarterly, 38(4), 628–652.

Yule, K., Houston, J., & Grych, J. (2019). Resilience in children exposed to violence: A meta-analysis of protective factors across ecological contexts. Clinical child and family psychology review, 22(3), 406-431.

Think back to a memorable day in your life. How confident are you in the order of events and details of that day? If you were to talk about the details and events of that day with someone else who was there, do you think your stories would match up? Today we discuss the effects of priming and suggestion on our memory, and how accurate our memory actually is. 

As always, if you have any feedback for us please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts, and feel free to reach out at [email protected]. Also, if you are enjoying listening to our podcast, please share it with a friend!

References: 

https://sites.psu.edu/dps16/2016/03/31/car-crash-experiment/

Loftus, E. F., Miller, D. G., & Burns, H. J. (1978). Semantic integration of verbal information into a visual memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 4(1), 19–31.

Christianson, S. A. (1989). Flashbulb memories: Special, but not so special. Memory & Cognition, 17(4), 435-443.

Strack, F., Martin, L. L., & Schwarz, N. (1988). Priming and communication: Social determinants of information use in judgments of life satisfaction. European journal of social psychology, 18(5), 429-442.

Do you ever look back on your childhood and miss the days when you were encouraged to read whatever fun fantastical book you wanted? But did high school English class turn you away from literary fiction and leave a bad taste in your mouth? It almost goes without saying that reading non-fiction books such as self-help books can be helpful for the reader. But what about fiction? We might be tempted to think that in this fast-paced world where we are almost constantly pressured to grow and improve ourselves that reading a fun work of fiction is a waste of time. Today we discuss what the research says about reading fiction and how it can actually help you become a more well-rounded person and take you on an enjoyable adventure. 

References: 

Marshall, R. (2020). Reading fiction: the benefits are numerous. British Journal of General Practice, 70(691), 79-79.

Nilsson, S. K. (2014). The specific benefits of reading fiction. Focus group discussions among young adults. In IGEL International Society for the Empirical Study of Literature and Media. Conference Torino 21-25 July 2014.

Kidd, D. C., & Castano, E. (2013). Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind. Science, 342(6156), 377-380.

Tamir, D. I., Bricker, A. B., Dodell-Feder, D., & Mitchell, J. P. (2016). Reading fiction and reading minds: The role of simulation in the default network. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 11(2), 215-224.

Last week we discussed how money is related to happiness. We know that after a certain point, having more money does not equal more happiness. But is there a way I can spend my money that WILL bring me more happiness? Today we discuss different types of spending and how they are associated with happiness. 

Is there a question or topic you would like us to discuss? Reach out to us at [email protected]

References: 

Dunn, E. W., Aknin, L. B., & Norton, M. I. (2008). Spending money on others promotes happiness. Science, 319(5870), 1687-1688.

Aknin, L. B., Dunn, E. W., Proulx, J., Lok, I., & Norton, M. I. (2020). Does spending money on others promote happiness?: A registered replication report. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 119(2), e15.

Nicolao, L., Irwin, J. R., & Goodman, J. K. (2009). Happiness for sale: Do experiential purchases make consumers happier than material purchases?. Journal of consumer research, 36(2), 188-198.

Mogilner, C., & Norton, M. I. (2016). Time, money, and happiness. Current Opinion in Psychology, 10, 12-16.

We hear all the time that money can't buy happiness. We also hear that mo' money = mo' problems. But having the money to buy that new house or car or save for retirement will make me happier. Right? Today we discuss the relationship between money and happiness and how --after our basic needs are met-- the way we think about money can have a more significant effect on our happiness than the money we actually have.

If you have questions, feedback, or topic suggestions you can email us at [email protected]

References: 

Dunn, E. W., Aknin, L. B., & Norton, M. I. (2008). Spending money on others promotes happiness. Science, 319(5870), 1687-1688.

Kahneman, D., Krueger, A. B., Schkade, D., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A. A. (2006). Would you be happier if you were richer? A focusing illusion. science, 312(5782), 1908-1910.

Easterlin, R. A. (1995). Will raising the incomes of all increase the happiness of all?. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 27(1), 35-47.

Miñarro, S., Reyes-García, V., Aswani, S., Selim, S., Barrington-Leigh, C. P., & Galbraith, E. D. (2021). Happy without money: Minimally monetized societies can exhibit high subjective well-being. PloS one, 16(1), e0244569.

Oishi, S., Kesebir, S., & Diener, E. (2011). Income inequality and happiness. Psychological science, 22(9), 1095-1100.

Johnson, W., & Krueger, R. F. (2006). How money buys happiness: genetic and environmental processes linking finances and life satisfaction. Journal of personality and social psychology, 90(4), 680.

We often hear about the placebo effect, but what is it? How does it work? What does it mean when an experiment uses a placebo group? Today we discuss the power of the placebo, how scientists and doctors harness its effect, and how you can too. 

References: 

Kienle, G. S., & Kiene, H. (1997). The powerful placebo effect: fact or fiction?. Journal of clinical epidemiology, 50(12), 1311-1318.

https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/placebo-effect

Rief, W., Nestoriuc, Y., Weiss, S., Welzel, E., Barsky, A. J., & Hofmann, S. G. (2009). Meta-analysis of the placebo response in antidepressant trials. Journal of affective disorders, 118(1-3), 1-8.

Beecher, H. K. (1955). The powerful placebo. Journal of the American Medical Association, 159(17), 1602-1606.

Sihvonen, R., Paavola, M., Malmivaara, A., Itälä, A., Joukainen, A., Nurmi, H., ... & Järvinen, T. L. (2013). Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy versus sham surgery for a degenerative meniscal tear. N Engl J Med, 369, 2515-2524.

What does the urge to gamble have in common with a breastfeeding mother? What is dopamine's role in disorders like schizophrenia, Parkinson's, and depression? Today we discuss dopamine and its many functions, and dispel pop-psychology myths surrounding it. 

References: 

Lebowitz MS, Ahn WK, Nolen-Hoeksema S. Fixable or fate? Perceptions of the biology of depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 2013;81(3):518-527. doi:10.1037/a0031730

Kvaale EP, Gottdiener WH, Haslam N. Biogenetic explanations and stigma: A meta-analytic review of associations among laypeople. Social Science & Medicine. 2013;96:95-103. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.07.017

Dunlop, B. W., & Nemeroff, C. B. (2007). The role of dopamine in the pathophysiology of depression. Archives of general psychiatry, 64(3), 327-337.

Ehringer, H., & Hornykiewicz, O. (1998). Distribution of noradrenaline and dopamine (3-hydroxytyramine) in the human brain and their behavior in diseases of the extrapyramidal system1 This article was originally published in German in the journal Klinische Wochenschrift, volume 38, issue 24, 15 December 1960, pp. 1236–1239.1. Parkinsonism & related disorders, 4(2), 53-57

Christian, H. C., Chapman, L. P., & Morris, J. F. (2007). Thyrotrophin‐releasing hormone, vasoactive intestinal peptide, prolactin‐releasing peptide and dopamine regulation of prolactin secretion by different lactotroph morphological subtypes in the rat. Journal of neuroendocrinology, 19(8), 605-613..

Brisch, R., Saniotis, A., Wolf, R., Bielau, H., Bernstein, H. G., Steiner, J., ... & Gos, T. (2014). The role of dopamine in schizophrenia from a neurobiological and evolutionary perspective: old fashioned, but still in vogue. Frontiers in psychiatry, 5, 47.

Adinoff, B. (2004). Neurobiologic processes in drug reward and addiction. Harvard review of psychiatry, 12(6), 305-320.

How do the experiences of our parents affect us? Do they affect only our learned behaviors? Or can they somehow affect our genes as well? Can the changes in someone's body due to a traumatic experience be passed on to their children and grandchildren? From famine in Ukraine to smells and diet in rats and mice, today we discuss how epigenetics plays a role in altering the biology of future generations. 

References: 

Bezo, B., & Maggi, S. (2015). Living in “survival mode:” Intergenerational transmission of trauma from the Holodomor genocide of 1932–1933 in Ukraine. Social Science & Medicine, 134, 87-94.

Dias, B. G., & Ressler, K. J. (2014). Parental olfactory experience influences behavior and neural structure in subsequent generations. Nature neuroscience, 17(1), 89-96.

Ingerslev, L. R., Donkin, I., Fabre, O., Versteyhe, S., Mechta, M., Pattamaprapanont, P., ... & Barrès, R. (2018). Endurance training remodels sperm-borne small RNA expression and methylation at neurological gene hotspots. Clinical epigenetics, 10(1), 1-11.

McPherson, N. O., Owens, J. A., Fullston, T., & Lane, M. (2015). Preconception diet or exercise intervention in obese fathers normalizes sperm microRNA profile and metabolic syndrome in female offspring. American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism, 308(9), E805-E821.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor 

What do monkeys, rats, worms, and humans all have in common? We all need physical touch to survive and thrive. Today we discuss attachment and the role it plays in human development. 

References: 

Harlow, H. F. (1959). Love in infant monkeys. Scientific American, 200(6), 68-75.

Ardiel, E. L., & Rankin, C. H. (2010). The importance of touch in development. Paediatrics & child health, 15(3), 153-156.

Caldji, C., Tannenbaum, B., Sharma, S., Francis, D., Plotsky, P. M., & Meaney, M. J. (1998). Maternal care during infancy regulates the development of neural systems mediating the expression of fearfulness in the rat. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 95(9), 5335-5340.