Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

By Michael Britt

Technology Science & Medicine Education Podcasting Health Self-Help Social Sciences Higher Education K-12

What's Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files about?

Learn how theories in psychology affect you in everyday life. Upbeat and interesting podcasts from experienced psychology teacher Michael Britt give you a bit more insight into you and your life.

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Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files episodes:

03.08.2024
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, studies on cats and dogs...
01.20.2024
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 unique insight into this...
01.18.2024
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 not, then...
01.18.2024
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...
08.08.2023
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...
06.29.2023
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...
06.10.2023
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,...
04.10.2023
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...
04.06.2023
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...
03.29.2023
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...
03.24.2023
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 happens and throws...
03.15.2023
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...
03.07.2023
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...
02.22.2023
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...
01.13.2023
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...
01.12.2023
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...
12.04.2022
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, and...
11.26.2022
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...
11.12.2022
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...
10.04.2022
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...
10.04.2022
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...
09.26.2022
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 develop and conflict...
09.07.2022
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 of music...
08.15.2022
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...
08.15.2022
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...
08.08.2022
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...
06.18.2022
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...
05.19.2022
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...
05.10.2022
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...
05.10.2022
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...
05.04.2022
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...
05.04.2022
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...
04.26.2022
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...
04.18.2022
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...
04.14.2022
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...
04.12.2022
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...
03.25.2022
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 also take a look...
03.19.2022
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...
03.06.2022
Personal Space Invasion: What Happens When Someone Invades Your Personal Space?
Do feel slightly uncomfortable in the bathroom? How does the presence of others in the bathroom affect you? What about places other than the bathroom? How close is too close? A psychological study was done in 1976 in which psychology...
02.25.2022
Computer Programmers: Obsessed With Efficiency
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...
02.18.2022
Giving Voice To Our Digital Assistants
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...
02.18.2022
The Team Behind Q – World’s First Genderless Digital Voice
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.
02.01.2022
Ep 276: "Because I Said So" Doesn't Work for Teens
How many times when a parent is arguing with a teen has the parent either said - or wish they could say - "Do it because I said so!". As a parent myself, I've had more than a few of...
01.30.2022
Ep 334: The Psychology of the Fantasticks
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
01.30.2022
Ep 170: Is the Web Making You More Narrow-Minded?
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...
01.24.2022
Ep 338: What Role Are Women Really Playing? The Bechdel Test
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...
01.24.2022
Ep 191: What Was B. F. Skinner Really Like?
Would you be surprised to learn that B.F. Skinner was a very likable guy and that you may actually be very much in agreement with his ideas? Many people who study psychology have a negative impression of Skinner. Well, I'm...
01.23.2022
Episode 99: Animal Emotions - Does Your Pet Really Have Feelings?
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...
01.23.2022
Ep 190: Why Do You Get So Absorbed in that Book (or Movie)?
Have you ever gotten to immersed in a book or movie that you actually felt like the character? Or you felt the character's pain or joy? Why does this happen? When does this happen? What is it about the book...
01.22.2022
Ep 185: The Dynamics of Therapy: Transference and Counter Transference: An Interview with Kerry Malawista
Transference and countertransference are two key concepts in psychoanalysis and they are fascinating. If you're interested in the therapy side of psychology - particularly psychoanalysis - this is the episode for you. Kerry Malawista, psychoanalyst and author, along with Anne...

What's Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files episodes:

My 3 Favorite Psych Articles This Week - March 8, 2024

From Insane Asylum to Psychiatric Center: A Brief History

Episode 104: Can Positive Affirmations Improve Your Self Esteem?

Episode 64: Self Help Book - How To Tell if It's Any Good

How to Remember Names

Part 2: How Do Actors Memorize All Those Lines?

How Do Actors Memorize Lines? Interview With Jared Kelner

Do Brain Training Games Work?

How Actors Use the "Number-Shape" Mnemonic Technique

Questionable Research - With A Famous Psychologist Involved

Actors Use Keywords to Memorize Lines

Human Emotions: The Two Factor Theory

Games and Videos as Therapeutic Tools: Dr. Anna Vagin (part 2)

Using TableTop Games and Videos in Therapy: Interview with Anna Vagin

How Psychology Gets You To Slow Down While Driving

The TV Show Luther, Logical Thinking and Crinkly Plates to Lose Weight

The Psychology of Tipping

How Smart Do You Want Your Fitness Tracker to Be?

How to Prevent Violence in Your Neighborhood

Adele Faber Interview on Parenting (Part 2)

Adele Faber Interview on Parenting (Part 1)

Racial Divide: Why Does It Happen? How We Can Fix It

What is Music Therapy?

What Can We Do To End Anti-Gay Bullying in Schools?

How To Create a Human-Like Voice

Want to Swap Bodies?

Manhood: Are You A "Real Man"?

Testosterone Doesn't Necessarily Cause Men to be Aggressive

The Secret Life of Pronouns - an Interview with James Pennebaker

In the Movies, Why Does the Woman Always Have to Die? And Other Gender Stereotypes

Owning Bipolar: A Conversation with Michael Pipich - Part 2

An Example of How Psychoanalysts Really Interpret Dreams

Owning Bipolar: A Conversation with Michael Pipich - Part 1

Why Do You Talk To Your Dog Like That? And Does It Understand You?

Trauma Recovery with Dr. Matt Jaremko

The Psychology of A Quiet Place and Mission Impossible

Motivational Interviewing and the TV Show Columbo

It's So Fluffy!

Personal Space Invasion: What Happens When Someone Invades Your Personal Space?

Computer Programmers: Obsessed With Efficiency

Giving Voice To Our Digital Assistants

The Team Behind Q – World’s First Genderless Digital Voice

Ep 276: "Because I Said So" Doesn't Work for Teens

Ep 334: The Psychology of the Fantasticks

Ep 170: Is the Web Making You More Narrow-Minded?

Ep 338: What Role Are Women Really Playing? The Bechdel Test

Ep 191: What Was B. F. Skinner Really Like?

Episode 99: Animal Emotions - Does Your Pet Really Have Feelings?

Ep 190: Why Do You Get So Absorbed in that Book (or Movie)?

Ep 185: The Dynamics of Therapy: Transference and Counter Transference: An Interview with Kerry Malawista