The Psych Files - Michael Britt

Latest Episodes:

Episode 136: Adele Faber Interview on Parenting (Part 2) Nov 28, 2010

Show notes

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 to give to your children, how to handle foul language, how to problem solve with your children, and being authentic with your children about own feelings. Finally, Adele gives her opinion on whether or not we need to be tougher with our children.

Episode 135: Adele Faber Interview on Parenting (Part 1) Nov 19, 2010

Show notes

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 other books should be required reading for all of us, but especially for parents, therapists and anyone interested in what we can do to better communicate with each other. I think you will be as charmed as I was listening to Adele and I encourage you to listen to part 2 of this interview (to be released in about a week).

Episode 134: Hypnosis - Myth and Reality Nov 02, 2010

Show notes

What do you think of hypnosis? might you be surprised to hear that it has been accepted by the American Psychological Association? Hypnosis has a fascinating and controversial history but today it deserves some respect. Still, it's not a cure-all. Take a trip with me through the history of this fascinating topic on The Psych Files.

Episode 133: Replace Your Doctor With a Robot? Oct 22, 2010

Show notes

Are you embarrassed to take your clothes off in front of your doctor? Most of us are. Well, what if your doctor was a robot? Would this make it easier or harder to remove your clothes? Before you answer - would it matter if the robot looked like a real person or if it looked like R2-D2? That's the question we examine this week on The Psych Files.

Episode 132: Opera Singing on the Brain Oct 08, 2010

Show notes

What part of your brain is lighting up when you're singing? In this episode I take a look at a neat new study that involved having singers lie down in an MRI while their brains were scanned.

Episode 131: Even Children Do Statistics! Sep 16, 2010

Show notes

Here's a fun piece of psychological research: finding out whether children use statistical information to figure out other people. We know kids are very perceptive and learn quickly. This study shows just how smart they really are.

Episode 128: Do Brain Training Games Work? Jul 13, 2010

Show notes

You've probably heard about these Brain Training games. Do they really help you to keep your mind sharp? Will they prevent cognitive decline or slow the effects of alzheimer's disease? In this episode I review some recent studies on the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of these popular games.

Episode 125: False Memories - How Can Your Memory Be So Bad? Jun 07, 2010

Show notes

For some reason we believe that our memories are accurate. They are far from it. What we remember is a hodge-podge, a patchwork of images, stories, and bits and pieces from our past. In this episode I describe some of the very interesting research showing how our memories can be manipulated in surprising ways. Learn why you loved asparagus as a kid (really you did, really).

Episode 124: Flashbulb Memories - Are They As Accurate As We Think? May 31, 2010

Show notes

Would you be surprised if I told you that your memories of the attacks on September 11, 2001 are inaccurate? How much of what you remember of that day or of other Flashbulb Memories actually happened? Where were you, for example, when the Challenger shuttle blew up? Or when Princess Diana died? Join me as I explore the research that reveals how inaccurate our memories are (no matter how confident we feel). And by the way, was President Bush involved in a conspiracy over the events of September 11? Let's find out.

Episode 122: DSM-V and On Being Sane - Are Psychiatric Labels Really Harmful? Apr 22, 2010

Show notes

What does the movie Shrek have to do with labeling, psychiatric illness and the self-fulfilling prophecy? In this episode I take a close look at the well-known Rosenhan study. This was the study in which pseudopatients pretend to hear voices and on the basis of this they get admitted to psychiatric centers. Then they were told to act normally. It took an average of 19 days for these pseudopatients to be discharged from the hospital and even then they were diagnosed as schizophrenia in remission.

Does this study show that psychiatric diagnoses are not only useless but also possibly harmful? Or do we find what we found back in episode 47 on Little Albert, and what we found in episode 36 on Kitty Genovese that what we thought we knew is largely wrong.

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