Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

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 of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World) have even developed ways to make their love lives more efficient! Sounds impossible but I think you'll enjoy hearing what some coders are up to. Why are they obsessed with efficiency? Do they score highly on Conscientiousness in the Big Five personality score? Would Frederick Taylor – founder of scientific management – feel a kindred spirit in them? Let's find out.

Here's my interview with Emil Rasmussen, who will give you the background behind the genderless voice called Q and his hopes for the future of Q.

Have you seen the musical The Fantasticks? Not only does it have wonderful music but it also has pearls of wisdom. Oh yea, and gender issues. In this episode I talk about the psychology inside this wonderful musical

You probably know that sites like Facebook are using the information they have about you - like your age, gender and interests - to serve up ads that are most likely to appeal to you. That's a little bit harmless and perhaps even helpful. But how about the more subtle filtering that is going on that you may not be aware of? Search engines are using information they have about you to show you news that these search tools think will most likely appeal to you based on your previous search activities. The problem with that? You might find yourself living in a bubble - sheltered from ever hearing about things you might not agree with, but which might also open your mind a bit and make you what your parents always wanted for you - to be "well-rounded".

In movies and TV, women are understandably tired of playing roles like the "Wife" or the "Girlfriend". Nowadays we're seeing more women in film and TV but has their role in the production really changed all that much? That's what the Bechdel testâ is all about. It's not a test per se but rather a few questions to help you determine whether the women in that movie, TV show, play, or book are characters with agency, or are just there to fill out the background for what the male characters do. In this episode I talk with Bard professor Wendy Urban-Mead about this Bechdel test and what it says about Shakespeare's plays and a play that she's appearing in called "The Women", a play featuring 35 female characters and has no male roles. Does it pass the Bechdel test?

Does your dog have thoughts and feelings? How about your cat? In this episode we find out what scientists have to say about how we should study this question. I also review a fascinating new study by Dr. Alexandra Horowitz of Barnard College who studied whether or not dogs who have that guilty look actually do feel guilty. We take a look at the idea of anthropomorphism and your dog in this episode of The Psych Files.