The Psych Files - Michael Britt

Latest Episodes:

Episode 142: How To Make Jobs More Satisfying and Motivating Mar 06, 2011

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Do you have a dull job? Wonder how it can be made more motivating? That's the challenge - how can we make jobs that are typically not much fun (like an assembly line job) more interesting to do? This is one of the challenges facing I/O psychologists and in this episode I discuss the Job Characteristics theory by Hackman and Oldham and apply it to assembly line jobs in China where your iPhone is made and where a record number of suicides have occurred over the past few years. Can we use job redesign to make such jobs more tolerable?

Episode 142: How To Make Jobs More Satisfying and Motivating Mar 06, 2011

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Episode 141: Psychology Gets Smart: A New Kind of Lie Detector? Feb 27, 2011

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Join me as I describe a psychological study that tested a new kind of lie detector. The study involved Agents, Missions, an Interception, and a mysterious package. This is psychology? You better believe it.

Episode 141: Psychology Gets Smart: A New Kind of Lie Detector? Feb 27, 2011

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You've probably heard that the so called "Lie Detector" test (the polygraph)doesn't actually detect when you've lied, but rather just takes some physiological measures from your body and these have to be interpreted by experts. Sometimes those experts make mistakes. Join me as I describe a psychological study that tested a new kind of "Lie Detector" - drawings. This study involved Agents, Missions, an Interception, and a mysterious "package". This is psychology? You better believe it.

Episode 140: Psychoanalyzing Jack Lalanne Feb 06, 2011

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In this episode I put Jack Lalanne on the couch. I take selections from several of his vidoes and see what they reveal about his personality. He was clearly passionate about exercise, but what drove this passion? What was his underlying motivation? I suggest that his relationship with his father was crucial to his passion for exercise and fitness. Join me as I do a little armchair psychoanalysis of Jack Lalanne.

Episode 140: Psychoanalyzing Jack Lalanne Feb 06, 2011

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In this episode I put Jack Lalanne "on the couch". I take selections from several of his vidoes and see what they reveal about his personality. He was clearly passionate about exercise, but what drove this passion? What was his underlying motivation? I suggest that his relationship with his father was crucial to his passion for exercise and fitness. Join me as I do a little armchair psychoanalysis of Jack Lalanne.Jack Lalanne

The Ripped and the Righteous

Episode 139: Blaming the Victim in Reverse - the Justice Motive Jan 23, 2011

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I'll bet you've heard of the expression, "Whatever doesn't kill you...", or "Suffering is good for the soul". Could these expression represent another way that we deal with our own anxiety after we hear about someone else's tragedy?

Episode 139: Blaming the Victim in Reverse - the Justice Motive Jan 23, 2011

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Episode 138: Zombies - 6 Reasons Why We Are So Fascinated By Them Dec 23, 2010

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Have you watched the TV show Walking Dead or ever seen a movie about Zombies (perhaps Zombieland or Dawn of the Dead? What is so fascinating about the undead? Why do many of us get a strange pleasure out of seeing a zombie get killed? In this episode I explore that strange part of ourselves which for some reason seems to enjoy watching the undead get really dead.

Episode 138: Zombies - 6 Reasons Why Are We So Fascinated By Them Dec 23, 2010

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