The Psych Files - Michael Britt

Latest Episodes:

Ep 173: The First Replication of Daryl Bem's Research on Psychic Phenomenon Apr 23, 2012

Show notes

Have psychologists recently found evidence for the existence of psychic ability? Last year, well-known psychologist Daryl Bem published an article called Feeling the Future in which he describes a number of studies, all of which provided support for a kind of phi phenomenon he calls "retroactive influence". The research appeared in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The article caused a storm of controversy and calls for changes to how research and the peer review process is conducted. I covered some of those recommendations in video episode 165 Psychological Research Under Fire. In this episode I interview the lead author, Stuart Ritchie, of the first published replication of one part of Bem's work. Listen as Stuart describes what he did and what he found on this very controversial topic.

Ep 173: An Interactive Neuron and Map Using ThingLink Apr 11, 2012

Show notes

Every once in a while a really cool tool comes along and I like to show everyone the fun I had with it. In this video episode I show how I easily made an interactive image of a neuron and an interactive map containing videos and locations for some of the major studies in psychology. Do you know where, for example, "Bobo doll" study was done? How about the spot where "Marion Keech" received her message from the alien race called the "Clarion" which revealed the inner workings of cognitive dissonance? Find out how to make your own fun and easy interactive image in this episode of The Psych Files.

Ep 172: Interview with Natalie Nahai - The Web Psychologist Apr 04, 2012

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Did you know that you can apply your psychology skills to the development of effective websites? Meet one woman - Nathalie Nahai - who does exactly that and she has a background in not only psychology, but also Art, Physics and English Literature. She's putting all those together to help people improve their websites and the power of their online influence, which by the way, is the title of the book she's working on: The Psychology of Online Influence.

Ep 172: Interview with Natalie Nahai - The Web Psychologist Apr 04, 2012

Show notes

Ep 171 Psych Files Brief #5: Yawning, Telling Jokes to Babies, Politics and Looks Mar 08, 2012

Show notes

A whole bunch of fascinating studies in this episode of The Psych Files! I cover the "Red Dress Effect", what exactly we're looking for in the facial characteristics of our leaders, how dark rooms might make you more likely to cheat, and how "contagious yawning" really works. Join me on this jaunt down some of the recent and fun research coming out of the fascinating field of psychology.

Ep 171 Psych Files Brief #5: Yawning, Telling Jokes to Babies, Politics and Looks Mar 08, 2012

Show notes

Ep 170: Is the Web Making You More Narrow-Minded? Feb 15, 2012

Show notes

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".

Ep 170: Is the Web Making You More Narrow-Minded? Feb 15, 2012

Show notes

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 that might you might now 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".

Ep: 169 - Validity - Having Confidence in the Results of a Personality Test Feb 12, 2012

Show notes

In episode 168 I discussed reliability but the real test of a test's "metal" - or how confident you can be in the results - comes when you subject it to lots of validity tests. You'll learn a lot about validity if you take a psychology class. High validity is what separates the many fun-to-take but essentially meaningless tests you'll find on the web, and a truly solid test of your personality.

Ep 168: Reliability - the Foundation of Any Good Personality Test Jan 19, 2012

Show notes

Can you tell your personality from what flavor ice cream you like? There are lots and lots of so called Personality tests on the web. How do you know when you've come across a good one? For example, are the inner workings of your personality revealed in the playlists you have on your smartphone or mp3 device? In this episode we take a look at the first thing you should demand from any test - reliability. If you're interested in psychology you are going to learn A LOT about the different kinds of reliability.Ep 168: Reliability - the Foundation of Any Good Personality Test

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