Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

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 important election.  But in this episode of the podcast I describe how I used ElevenLabs - a site that will allow you to clone your - or someone else's - voice to "re-create" my father's voice and use it to have him say some things that I always wanted to hear him say. Weird? Yes, but satisfying and therapeutic? I think so.

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 draw you into their music by first conforming to your musical expectations and then carefully confounding them in order to surprise and delight. I talk with guitarist and composer David Temple to get his perspective on this process as well. Along the way you'll hear excerpts from some fascinating pieces of music and David and I will discuss what makes them so compelling, especially those in the minor key. My My piano playing skills are pretty rough but get ready for some fun.

Explore how making hospital alarms more musical can prevent dangerous mistakes, cats and dogs likely dream about their waking experiences, and the reliability comparison between Myers-Briggs and Big Five personality tests.

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.

Tips and techniques for remembering names are discussed, including the use of mnemonics and visual associations. The challenge of remembering similar sounding names is explored, along with strategies to overcome this. Techniques for observing facial features and clothing to aid name recall are also shared.

Author and actor Jared Kelner discusses using the DSM in acting, benefits of incorporating acting techniques in therapy, appearing on a show, and the origin of their popular podcast.

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, "Line?". If you're interested in psychology, memory, and how actors accomplish the amazing feat of memorization - especially for long plays containing many many lines (perhaps for a Shakespearean play). Here are the answers. 

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.