Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

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, studies on cats and dogs suggest they likely dream about their waking experiences, just like humans do. The brain activity of a sleeping dog resem

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 insight into this transformative journey. (episode was recorded in 2007).

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, then what will? We explore these questions in this episode of The Psych Files.

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 list of the top 14 things that really bother psychologists or any scientists about self-help books.

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 remember them. Give your brain a little room to roam and put it to practical use. Also, I look at recent research that provides yet another

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 devices to memorize lines.

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 I have an interview with a professional actor, Jared Kelner, who wrote a fascinating book exactly on this topic. It's called, naturally, "Li

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 recent studies on the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of these popular games.

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. Check out his book on Amazon. In this episode I demonstrate how this memory tool works and how an actor might apply it to memorize a famous

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" can make us feel and act differently, and we know that the "placebo effect" is real, but how far can these ideas be taken Psychology has al