In this episode of "The Psych Files," we delve into the complex and sensitive topic of sexual assault, focusing particularly on the phenomenon of tonic immobility, often referred to as "frozen fright." This involuntary response can leave v

Cloned Voices: Scary Maybe, But Also Therapeutic?

14 days ago 10m 56s

I'm about as worried as anyone else about how the new tools for cloning voices could be used by "bad actors" to clone the voices of politicians to make them say things they never said and possibly further polarize our country before an importan

The Psychology of Music: The Role of Expectations and Minor Chords

21 days ago 43m 39s

How does music affect us emotionally? Why do minor chords sound so sad? In this episode of The Psych Files I explore ideas from Daniel Leviton's fascinating book, Your Brain on Music, especially those ideas concerned with what composers do to d

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

Mar 8th, 2024 4m 18s

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, studie

From Insane Asylum to Psychiatric Center: A Brief History

Jan 20th, 2024 32m 26s

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 i

Episode 104: Can Positive Affirmations Improve Your Self Esteem?

Jan 18th, 2024 20m 47s

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, t

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

Jan 18th, 2024 30m 48s

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 the others. Here's a li

How to Remember Names

Aug 8th, 2023 18m 4s

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 images I created to help me

Part 2: How Do Actors Memorize All Those Lines?

Jun 29th, 2023 30m 55s

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 little more about his use of mnemonic

How Do Actors Memorize Lines? Interview With Jared Kelner

Jun 10th, 2023 33m 27s

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, but on this episode

Do Brain Training Games Work?

Apr 10th, 2023 13m 37s

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 some recen

How Actors Use the "Number-Shape" Mnemonic Technique

Apr 6th, 2023 4m 50s

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 myself, Jared Kelner.

Questionable Research - With A Famous Psychologist Involved

Mar 29th, 2023 33m 44s

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 way - which we sometimes call "reframing"

Actors Use Keywords to Memorize Lines

Mar 24th, 2023 4m 36s

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 an

Human Emotions: The Two Factor Theory

Mar 15th, 2023 16m 23s

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 in the history of

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

Mar 7th, 2023 28m 10s

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 with their difficult situ

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

Feb 22nd, 2023 20m 26s

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 finds on YouTube in her sessions. Th

How Psychology Gets You To Slow Down While Driving

Jan 13th, 2023 13m 26s

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 these signs and nothing bad happens so a

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

Jan 12th, 2023 22m 28s

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 the TV show Luther and wring all kinds

The Psychology of Tipping

Dec 4th, 2022 27m 42s

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

How Smart Do You Want Your Fitness Tracker to Be?

Nov 26th, 2022 29m 58s

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 get? Today they keep track of your step

How to Prevent Violence in Your Neighborhood

Nov 12th, 2022 11m 14s

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 airplane and apply it to the atta

Adele Faber Interview on Parenting (Part 2)

Oct 4th, 2022 35m 53s

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

Adele Faber Interview on Parenting (Part 1)

Oct 4th, 2022 26m 13s

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 rea

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

Sep 26th, 2022 30m 24s

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