Two Shrinks Pod

This week, Two Shrinks Pod is getting ready for Christmas! Amy takes us through the role of cognitive development in believing Santa and how to guarantee the best chance of winning a Christmas cracker. Hunter talks about subjective well-being - what makes some of us feel better after Christmas and others worse? We finish off with two things we came across. This week it's the practice habits of Peppa Pig's Dr Brown Bear and a new diagnostic criteria. Do you have Bond Adequacy Disorder (BAD)?

Amy's articles:

Belief in Santa - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885201414000720

Christmas cracker victory - https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2014/201/11/surprising-benefit-passive-aggressive-behaviour-christmas-parties-being-crowned

Hunter's article:

Subjective well-being at Christmas - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11482-015-9441-8 

Things we came across:

Dr Brown Bear - http://www.bmj.com/content/359/bmj.j5397

Bond Adequacy Disorder - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26654618

20 - This pod is a 10 item Things We Came Across Special to celebrate our 20th episode (like what we did for the 10th episode - but with less Star Wars). We talk about 10 different and unusual psychology research papers. Hunter's papers run the gamete of asking whether middle children are socially more advanced, which parent physical characteristics do we find attractive in potential partners (creepy), discusses cat personality traits, what diagnosis Gollum from Lord of the Rings has (nerd alert), and what predicts couples initial sleeping positions. Meanwhile Amy tackles the topics of which type of exercise is best for mood (seeking confirmatory bias for yoga), the depressing research on what playing with Barbie does to girls career aspirations, why theory of mind and dancing are linked, why is it good to swear when socially excluded, and finishes with a discussion on disorders named after cities.  

Hunter's articles

Face preferences (Do I like my partner because he looks like my dad?): http://www.ehbonline.org/article/S1090-5138(15)00059-8/fulltext

Birth order and cooperativeness (do middle children rule?): http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjdp.12180/full

What is Gollum's diagnosis : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC535969

Cat personality: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376635716303308?via%3Dihub

Sleep positions (don't touch me! or lets cuddle): https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/IJoDR/article/view/32590

Amy's articles

Exercise (Amy attempts to show yoga is better than aerobics) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27514246

Barbie dolls and career aspirations in girls  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-014-0347-y

Dancing and theory of mind http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdev.12314/abstract

Swearing, pain and social exclusion  http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejsp.2264/abstract

Disorders named after cities http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/0027773814Z.00000000087?journalCode=ynam20

19 - This week we have an in-depth chat about social anxiety disorder - which is when people find social situations difficult and worrying, so much so that people avoid them. Social anxiety disorder is a really interesting problem that is surprisingly common. The discussion on this pod illustrates many key concepts in how psychologists understand and treat anxiety (and mood) problems. So it should be a good pod to listen to if you are generally interested in what psychologists do. We talk about social anxiety in adolescents, how it relates to feeling shame and being self-critical in adults, the relationship between anger suppression and social anxiety, and finish up talking about CBT and mindfulness as treatments for social anxiety. In Things We Came Across Hunter continues with his discussion about mortality rates in hospitals - this time asking the question what happens when cardiologist go to a conference, Amy ends by discussing magic and cognitive ability.  

Amy's articles:

Social adaptation in adolescence. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11218-011-9164-0

Social anxiety and anger suppression. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21636245

Hunter's articles: 

Social anxiety and shame proneness - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25196782

RCT CBT vs mindfulness - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005796717301183?via%3Dihub

T.W.C.A.:

Mortality when cardiologists are at a conference: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25531231

Magic tricks and cognition. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4351568/ 

18 - This week, Two Shrinks Pod is going green with a chat about the psychological aspects of following a meat free diet. We talk about eating disorders, anxiety and how smarter kids tend to be vegetarians in adulthood. We also ponder whether eating meat is associated with masculinity and question how prejudiced Western culture is towards vegans and vegetarians. To wrap up, Amy blames Hunter for her current earworm and soothes herself with research about how other people experience songs stuck in their heads. Then Hunter talks us through the most dangerous month to visit a hospital in the US. 

Hunter's articles:

Bias towards vegetarians

Eating disorders

IQ in childhood

Amy's articles:

Stress and anxiety

Bias among vegans & vegetarians

Masculinity and meat-free diets

Things we came across:

Earworms - stuck song syndrome (Amy)

The July Effect (Hunter)

17 - Continuing with our mini-series of non-clinical topics we discuss five articles on creativity. We focus on 'little c' creativity - that is - creativity in everyday situations. Looking at how emotions, personality, brain organisation, bipolar disorder and children's play are all related to creativity. In Things We Came Across we discuss whether left handers remember dreams and digest the science behind food cravings. 

Amy's articles

Everyday creativity:
http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-04641-001

Creativity and bipolar disorder: 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25814521

Creativity and children's play:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03004430.2014.983916?journalCode=gecd20

Hunter's articles

Everyday creativity - Warsaw study:
http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-18548-001

Creativity and Handedness:
 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278262609001651?via%3Dihub

TWCA

Food cravings:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16112776

Handedness and dream recall:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24286302

16 - For this week's pod we read five articles on procrastination - and in the process had our own procrastination activated which delayed the episode being completed by a week (#irony). We talk about procrastination which is something we have all struggled with.  Discussing it in various settings and how it relates to personality, our estimates of time, and how it interferes with doing aversive and pleasurable tasks. We finish with a discussion of academic spam emails and ponder the relationship between smells and memories.

Amy's articles

Procrastination, personality & academic performance: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886916312016

Procrastination across the age range: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0148054

Procrastination and the dark triad: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886914000105

Hunter's articles

Atlast my article on procrastination: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0092656686901273

Procrastination of enjoyable experiences: http://journals.ama.org/doi/abs/10.1509/jmkr.47.5.933?code=amma-site&journalCode=jmkr

T.W.C.A.

academic spam: http://www.bmj.com/content/355/bmj.i5383

smells and memory: https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/BF03193837

15 - This week we talk about people who hoard things (objects, animals) so much so that it causes them distress and disrupts their day to day lives. Hoarding disorder has only recently been recognised as a distinct disorder and so we discuss some of the research into what makes someone more likely to hoard, as well as how to treat this disorder. As usual we end up with our "Things we came across" segment, Amy goes dark with discussion about Trolling on Tinder, whilst Hunter goes light by talking about psychologists and reality tv (as well as a lot of discussion of Survivor). 

Amy's articles:

Anthropomorphism and Hoarding: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886912004898

Characteristics of people who hoard animals: http://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fa0023484

Trolling on Tinder and the dark tetrad: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886917300260

Hunter's articles 

Intolerance of distress and uncertainty in hoarding: 
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010440X16303844?via%3Dihub

Group CBT for Hoarding:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26750388

Psychologists in Reality TV: https://www.psychology.org.au/Content.aspx?ID=8046

14 - This week's pod is a talk that Hunter gave at Leukaemia Foundation Day in 2013. The talk is about some of the challenges people face when diagnosed, being treated for and recovering from cancer. The core principles of this talk should be applicable to most people as Hunter talks about how to deal with anxiety, changes life circumstances, and how to get the most out of the short time we have. It will also be of interest to anyone who has or had cancer, or knows someone who has, it should also be interesting to listen too to understand how psychologists think about and tackle complex problems that life throws up. 

If you or anyone you know has a blood cancer and would like to receive support please call 1800 620 420 or visit www.leaukaemia.org.au. If you or someone you know would like to support the Leukaemia Foundation in raising much needed funds please call 1800 500 088 – it is always the right time to donate to a cancer charity.

Books:

Staring at the Sun (Yalom) https://www.bookdepository.com/Staring-at-Sun-Irvin-D-Yalom/9780749928780

Reinventing your life : https://www.bookdepository.com/Reinventing-Your-Life-Jeffrey-E-Young-Janet-S-Klosko/9780452272040?ref=grid-view&qid=1504760604784&sr=1-1

Human side of cancer: https://www.bookdepository.com/Human-Side-of-Cancer-J--Lewis-S-Holland/9780060930424?ref=grid-view&qid=1504760634489&sr=1-1

13 - For lucky number 13 we thought we'd take a look at some of the research into superstitions and how these manifest in various areas of our lives. We talk about how having someone tell you something is lucky increases your performance, discuss superstitious behaviours of top European sportspersons, ponder superstitious and paranormal beliefs, marvel at the differences in superstitions of gamblers in South Korean casinos, and see how superstitions affect the Russian real estate market. 

We finish up with a rather relaxed discussion (thanks Artemis Gin http://www.artemisgin.com.au) on the effects of alcohol references in music on drinking behaviour and argue about whether men or women assemble Ikea furniture better.  

Amy's articles: 

Superstition and performance: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20511389

Paranormal beliefs: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053810016304548

Real estate: http://journal.sjdm.org/15/151009/jdm151009.html

Alcohol & lyrics: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21999498
 

Hunter's articles:

Sportspeople: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00116.x/abstract

Gamblers: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14459795.2016.1182569

Sex differences in assembly of Ikea furniture: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acp.3182/full

12 - This pod we discuss ending therapy - which is referred to as 'termination' in the literature (insert your own Schwarzenegger joke here). We discuss three articles that peel back some of processes that go on when therapy ends and talk about some of the difficulties that are encountered during this time. When done properly terminating therapy can be a positive experience for both client and therapist, but it is not always easy to do. Hunter finishes up discussing whether spoilers impact on your enjoyment of stories (spoiler alert - they do and don't), and Amy searches for a definitive answer as to what a Heffalump looks like. 

Articles:

The termination phase: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28263654

Termination and attachment theory: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28263649

Termination and CBT for children, adolescents and parents: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27869468

Spoilers: http://www.benjaminkjohnson.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/TraitsSpoilers_preprint.pdf

Heffalumps: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/09075682030103008