Social-media-communication by Doesn’t say (image here). Licensed under CC0 via Wikimedia Commons
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2 Easy Ways to Increase Willpower — Courtesy Of The Cookie Monster Eric Barker, in his Barking Up The Wrong Tree blog, reviews the research on willpower and how to delay gratification using videos of kids and the Cookie Monster. Interestingly, Sesame Street actually consulted with Walter Mischel, the originator of the marshmallow test, to be sure that Cookie instilled got his psychology correct. Cookie Monster illustrates that distraction and focus can help self-control in a charming music video. From December 2, 2013.
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Achieving Fame, Wealth, and Beauty are Psychological Dead Ends, Study Says. Summary of research by Christopher P. Niemiec, Richard M. Ryan and Edward L. Deci (2009) Journal of Personality showing that achieving the proverbial fame and fortune are not all that it’s cracked up to be. Includes a video summary and interview with Ed Deci by SciencCentral. (2 minutes, 13 seconds).
Alfred Adler’s Immigration Card. The 1999 Library of Congress exhibit Freud: Conflict and Culture includes this image of Alfred Adler’s Immigration card.
Allport A whiteboard video animation on the life of Gordon Allport. Runs 2 minutes and 19 seconds.
Anal Personality? South Korea’s Toilet Culture The Toilet Culture Park, the only one of its kind in the world, exhibits a variety of bowls from Korean traditional squat toilets to western bedpans. Check out this slide show of 11 images from the park. Posted November 23, 2012.
Animal Code: Our Favorite Genomes LiveScience presents this slide show of their 10 favorite projects mapping the genomes of various animals — including humans — such as the cow, turkey, orangutan, rhesus monkey, and others. Genome sequencing can explain unusual animal traits, lead to disease-resistant animals, shed light on evolutionary processes, and much more.
Assessment: On The California Shore, Sizing Up Female Marines’ Combat Readiness The Pentagon has decreed that the Marines must open combat roles for women by 2016 unless they can show a good reason not to. The Marine Corps has teamed up with the University of Pittsburgh to scientifically measure skills, strength, and endurance in order to establish valid and reliable gender-neutral standards. Runs 7 minutes, 18 seconds; transcript and photos available.
Attachment Theory: Psychogenic Disease in Infancy (1952) This classic film by Rene Spitz (1952) provided additional evidence for the attachment theory of John Bowlby by documenting the impact of maternal deprivation on children’s emotional and social development. Today, the Prelinger Archives preserves this film and makes it available for downloading or online streaming. (runs 19 minutes and 13 seconds).
Attachment and Contact Comfort: Harry Harlow Monkey Experiment In this excerpt from an early documentary on the monkey studies of Harry Harlow, Harlow demonstrates how a baby monkey raised in isolation prefers the contact comfort of a warm, terry cloth mother to a wire mother with food. (2 minutes, 6 seconds).
Attachment and Fear: Another Experiment By Harry Harlow In this excerpt from an early documentary on the monkey studies of Harry Harlow, Harlow demonstrates how a baby monkey raised in isolation will seek out the safe haven of a warm, terry cloth mother when frightened (33 seconds).
Attachment and Social Isolation: Harry Harlow Studies with Monkeys Excerpt from a movie on attachment showing how newborn baby monkeys, separated from their mothers, when given a choice between a cold wire mother with milk or a soft mother without, chose comfort over food. Early separation led to social problems as these monkeys grew up, demonstrating the importance of contact with a caregiver. (1 minute, 11 seconds)
Attachment: Dr. Dan Siegel on Avoidant Attachment in infants and adults Published March 3, 2011. Runs 2 minutes, 3 seconds.
Attachment: Dr. Dan Siegel on Ambivalent Attachment in infants and adults Published March 3, 2011. Runs 1 minute, 55 seconds.
Attachment: Dr. Dan Siegel on Disorganized Attachment in infants and adults Published March 3, 2011. Runs 5 minutes, 29 seconds.
Attachment: Dr. Dan Siegel on Optimal Attachment in infants and adults Published March 3, 2011. Runs 1 minute, 4 seconds.
The Authoritarian Personality Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #127, March 14, 2008). In this episode, Dr. Dave talks with Robert Altemeyer, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Manitoba and the world’s leading authority on The Authoritarian Personality, a topic he has researched and written on extensively. In fact, he has made a book on this topic available for free.
Authoritarian Attitudes: Claremont Graduate University Online Video Library. Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA, maintains an online video library of selected talks and panel discussions at the University.Authoritarian Attitudes in Times of Threat. Merolla, Jennifer L. (Claremont Graduate University). From the 2008 SBOS-Stauffer Symposium, Extremism and the Psychology of Uncertainty. April 6, 2008. 31 minutes.
Autonomy: Claremont Graduate University Online Video Library. Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA, maintains an online video library of selected talks and panel discussions at the University. Relationships that Support Autonomy and Engagement. Reeve, Johnmarshall (University of Iowa). From the 2009 Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology, Enhancing Teaching and Learning: Lessons from Social Psychology. March 28, 2009. 1 hour 5 minutes.
Jumbo the elephant – 3b52419u by P. T. Barnum & Co. – Library of Congress: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b52419. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
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The Barnum Effect John Stossel, co-anchor of the ABC news program 20/20, questions the accuracy of astrology, and amazes an audience with a demonstration of how false astrology readings are believable when they include general statements that could apply to anybody (2 minutes, 24 seconds).
The Barnum Effect: Derren Brown on Astrology The British illusionist, mentalist, and skeptic Derren Brown conducts a demonstration with audiences in the UK, US, and Spain, to illustrate how the Barnum Effect can lead people to believe psychic readings (8 minutes, 24 seconds).
Aaron Beck On The Future of CBT In this video from a recent CBT workshop at the Beck Institute, Dr. Aaron Beck discusses the theory and practice of Cognitive Therapy. He discusses the ways in which the core theory and the therapy have changed since the 1960s and how he believes they will expand and extend in the future. He also discusses how other disciplines, such as neurobiology, have contributed to CT, referencing one of his own studies in 1961 and a 1999 study by researchers in Great Britain. According to Dr. Beck, the future of CBT will likely involve an expansion of the core theory of CT in conjunction with neurobiological findings.Published by the Beck Institute, February 27, 2013 (runs 7 minutes, 26 seconds).
Aaron Beck on CBT Relapse Prevention In this video from a recent Beck Institute Workshop, Dr. Aaron Beck describes examples of the application of techniques such as mindfulness, acceptance, and validation. He also explains how these and other important techniques can be used to enhance relapse prevention. Posted by the Beck Institute, October 9, 2013. Runs 4 minutes, 59 seconds
Before he Cheats Carrie Underwood sings about taking revenge on her cheating boyfriend. You might well wonder what he’ll do when he sees the wreck she’s left of his truck. The song vividly illustrates how people directly and indirectly evoke anger and upset in their partners. (Wonder where she falls in terms of agreeableness and conscientiousness).
Belmont Principles for ethical research with human participants. This 9-minute video provides background and history for the three principles of respect for persons, beneficence, and justice, known as the Belmont Principles.
Best Marriage Equality Commercial Ever This Australian public service announcement takes a novel and moving approach in its support for marriage equality.
The Bobo Doll Study Albert Bandura himself introduces the classic Bobo doll study in which chlidren in the experimental group who watched an adult interact in an aggressive manner with a blow-up clown played more aggressively with the doll than children in the control who did not see the adult model. Features actually footage from the classic study. (5 minutes, 3 seconds).
Body Image: 2 People Described the Same Persona to A Forensic Artist And This is What Happened This amazing demonstration, actually part of the Dove soap Real Beauty campaign is quite a powerful demonstration of how our own body image may differ from what others see when they look at us. (Runs 3 minutes, 1 second).
Born This Way This blog is a photo/essay project for gay adults (male and female) to submit pictures from their childhood (roughly ages 2 to 12) – with snapshots that capture them, innocently, showing the beginnings of their innate LGBT selves. According to the blog’s editor, So, some of the pix here feature gay boys with feminine traits, and some gay girls with masculine traits. And even more gay kids with NONE of those traits. Just like real life, these gay kids come in all shades and layers of masculine and feminine. And this project is not about furthering stereotypes. The result is often charming, thoughtful, and very real. Also check out a photo essay from NPR (February 2, 2011) about the blog here.
Brain: How to Interpret Brain Imaging Studies The Neuroethics Learning Collaborative, of the Center for Neuroscience and Society at the University of Pennsylvania, created this video on Brain Imaging: Reality and Hype. Jeff Aguirre presents this talk on the basics of neuroimaging, focusing on how scientists go from tracking neural activity to making an inference about human behavior. Describes how PET scans and fMRIs work, and how to interpret results from fMRI studies. The talk was given on March 2, 2010 and runs 47 minutes and 10 seconds.
Brain and Neuroscience A companion site to the PBS series The Secret Life of the Brain this site contains definitions and examples of CAT scans, PET scans, MRI, fMRI, MEG, a 3-D tour of the brain, and mind illusions. Divided into five segments (the baby’s brain, the child’s brain, the teenage brain, the adult brain, the aging brain), the site contains numerous video clips including infant vision, the birth of the brain, motherese, sleep, addiction, culture and schizophrenia, laughter, emotions, Alzheimer’s, memory, and more.
Buddha’s Brain: The Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, & Wisdom Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #249, Oct 16, 2010). In this episode, Dr. Dave talks with neuropsychologist Rick Hanson, who works at the intersection on the brain, positive psychology and meditation. Hanson believes that when the brain changes the mind changes; when the mind changes the brain changes; and you can use your mind skillfully to change your brain and your mind for the better (1 hour, 12 minutes, 47 seconds).
Building Resiliency Psych Central’s founder and Editor-in-Chief John M. Grohol interviewed therapists Daniel J. Tomasulo, Ph.D. & Marie Hartwell-Walker on how to build resilience. In their original video from May 12, 2012 (which runs 5 minutes, 33 seconds) they offer 5 suggestions and in this follow-up from May 21, 2012 (running 4 minutes, 10 seconds) they offer more.
Challenge vs skill by w:User:Oliverbeatson – w:File:Challenge vs skill.jpg. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
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CBT: How to Become Highly Skilled in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) In this video from a recent Beck Institute Workshop, Drs. Aaron and Judith Beck discuss the process of improving as a therapist. Like most skills, excellent therapy skills are achieved over time with good training and experience. Dr. Aaron Beck emphasizes the importance of utilizing patient feedback, as well as learning from colleagues and supervisors. Dr. Judith Beck discusses the importance of keeping an open mind in one’s progression as a therapist, including incorporating new techniques from other fields of therapy within the CBT framework. Published by the Beck Institute, January 16, 2013.
Changing Brains Helen Neville and her colleagues at the University of Oregon Brain Development Lab created this 12-part program to help parents, educators, policy-makers, and care-givers of young children understand how and when experience shapes the development of the human brain. Separate segments focus on vision, hearing, motor skills, attention, language, reading, math, music, and emotions and learning.
Chronotypes: How To Become A Morning Person The Business Insider published this info graphic summarizing the research on chronotypes, including helpful information on how to shift your body clock to be more of a morning person. Published December 16, 2014.
Continuity, Change, and Coherence: This Fascinating TED Talk Shows Why You Have No Idea What Will Make You Happy in 10 Years In his 2014 TED talk, Harvard social psychologist Daniel Gilbert explains the end of history illusion where people are unable to anticipate just how much they’ll change in the future — even though they can appreciate how much they’ve grown in the past. So, at every age, you think the person you are today is the person you’ll be for the rest of your life. Runs 6 minutes, 50 seconds.
Could We Record Our Dreams? Have you ever wished your could record your dreams and watch them later? It may be possible sooner than you think according to this video by Asap Science. While the premise may sound a bit like science fiction, the video does a great job of explaining the latest fMRI studies which do come eerily close to mind-reading. (runs 3 minutes, 55 seconds).
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow, the secret to happiness Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi asks, “What makes a life worth living?” Noting that money cannot make us happy, he looks to those who find pleasure and lasting satisfaction in activities that bring about a state of “flow” (Runs 18 minutes, 59 seconds).
Claremont Graduate University Online Video Library. Claremont Graduate University, Clarmont, CA, maintains an online video library of selected talks and panel discussions at the University. Check out their how page with a listing of topics, talks, and speakers.
Classical Conditioning illustrated via The Office Jim, from the NBC comedy The Office, trains Dwight using principles of classical conditioning in this 1 minute 9 second video.
Clips for Class From the website: We launched an extensive search for videos on the internet that could be used both in class and by students at home. The videos range from news clips, to popular television shows, to student projects, and represent many psychological fields of study. This collection of creative videos for all areas of psychology includes these notable ones on personality: individualism vs. collectivism, psychosexual stages explained in the spirit of High School Musical, Self-Efficacy Theory (a la Masterpiece Theatre), a clip from the MTV show room raiders to illustrate the Five Factor model, and others.
Cognitive Neuroscience of Mindfulness Meditation Philippe Goldin, researcher and head of the Clinically Applied Affective Neuroscience group in the Department of Psychology at Stanford University gives this talk on meditation and functioning: Mindfulness meditation, one type of meditation technique, has been shown to enhance emotional awareness and psychological flexibility as well as induce well-being and emotional balance. Scientists have also begun to examine how meditation may influence brain functions. This talk will examine the effect of mindfulness meditation practice on the brain systems in which psychological functions such as attention, emotional reactivity, emotion regulation, and self-view are instantiated. We will also discuss how different forms of meditation practices are being studied using neuroscientific technologies and are being integrated into clinical practice to address symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress.
Cloning Fido: Playing God With Dog This brief episode from the ABC News program Night Line describes how a woman had her beloved pet cloned by a South Korean company. With a high failure rate of clones and the questionable treatment of laboratory animals, the piece raises important questions including: Do identical genes make for an identical dog? How are surrogate dogs treated after they give birth? Is it ethical to swap one animal’s life for another? Does the high number of failed attempts justify the few successful ones? Originally aired January 6, 2012 (runs 5 minutes, 48 seconds).
Conditioning: The Golf-Playing Parrot Watch while AJ the parrot plays dead, rolls over, shakes hands, sinks a putt, goes bowling, and more in various 1-2 minute video-clips which illustrate the power of conditioning in animal training.
Conditioning This award-winning commercial from Europe can be used to illustrate many principles of conditioning including positive and negative reinforcement, partial reinforcement, and extinction (thanks to Edward I. Pollak, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, for pointing this out to the PsychTeach discussion list).
Conditioning: Skinner and his pigeons Illustrates how Skinner used principles of operant conditioning to train pigeons. Includes Skinner himself talking about his work and commenting on schedules of reinforcement, gambling behavior, and free will. 3 minutes, 57 seconds.
Correlation and Causation From the website: Looking for examples of correlation and causation? You’ve heard it a million times: correlation doesn’t mean causation. Still need help? Well, here’s a humorous look at this topic that I think drives home the point. The Psych Files “Breaking News” explores whether satisfied workers are more productive and whether living together causes divorce. I hope you enjoy this unique video episode of The Psych Files. (Originally released November 16, 2009).
Control and Culture: Sheena Iyengar, Psycho-Economist On the Art of Choosing For Americans, choosing is a way of asserting our individuality, while in other cultures deferring to the choices of respected others is a way of creating community and fostering harmony. Her her talk about her work on choice, locus of control, and culture, including the famous 24 varieties of jam study, in this TED talk. (Posted July 2010. Duration: 24:05)
Control Your Emotions. This black-and-white documentary presents a 1950’s view of emotions, taking a stimulus and response view of the emotion of rage. The film warns that emotions which are out of control can lead to a permanently warped personality. To develop a more pleasant personality young people should learn to control their emotions, by eliminating or modifying the emotional stimulus or by modifying their responses. Though quite dated and inaccurate, parts of it would make an entertaining introduction to current research on emotion or spark a lively discussion among students. Check out Part 1 here (8 minutes, 17 seconds) and Part 2 here (5 minutes, 01 second).
Cultural Psychology The complete updated Discovering Psychology series hosted by Philip Zimbardo is available online for streaming in the classroom or for outside of class viewing as well as in DVD format. Newly created Program 26 is on Cultural Psychology. From the website: This newly emerging field is integrating cross-cultural research with social and personality psychology, anthropology, and other social sciences. Its main new perspective is centered on how cultures construct selves and other central aspects of individual personality, beliefs, values, and emotions — much of what we are and do. This area has become more important in both psychology and American society with the globalization of our planet, increasing interaction of people from different cultural backgrounds, and emerging issues of diversity. With Dr. Hazel Markus of Stanford University, Dr. Kaipeng Peng of the University of California, Berkeley, and Dr. Ricardo Munoz of the University of California, San Francisco and San Francisco General Hospital. New. 30 minutes.
White Marshmallows by John Morgan – http://www.flickr.com/photos/24742305@N00/2256639109. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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Dance to the (Circadian) Rhythm The consumer technology company Jawbone released data aggregated from its users tracking sleep and wake times by location. The result is a series of fascinating interactive graphs of bedtimes and total hours of night sleep by county within the United States. Some fascinating findings suggest that our circadian rhythms are more attuned to the sunrise and sunset than to what the clocks says. Posted November 2014.
In Defense of Defense Mechanisms Michael Brit, former professor of psychology, broadcasts a podcast about psychology called The Psych Files. This show (Episode 5) is subtitled “Don’t Throw Freud out with the Bathwater”. According to Brit: “Too many people dismiss Freud just because he, admittedly, had a few crazy ideas (”penis envy” for example), but as I try to point out in this podcast, many of Freud’s ideas were very influential and can, with a little attention, be seen in everyday life.” The website also features an overview of the defense mechanisms with examples.
Delay of Gratification A modern twist on the classic Marshmallow test. See children successfully and unsuccessful delay gratification in this clip. Embedded in a presentation on Temptation, the test itself starts at about 45 seconds and lasts just over 4 minutes.
Delay of Gratification with the Dilley Sextuplets Dianne Sawyer for the ABC news program Primetime interviews the Dilley sextuplets and tests their ability to delay gratification using M&Ms in this replication of Michel’s classic Marshmallow Test. See also: here for background on the Dilleys.
The Marshmallow Study Revisited This classic measurement of children’s self-control was replicated and updated in a study published in Cognition this month and summarized here, October 11, 2012. Children who experienced reliable interactions immediately before the marshmallow task waited on average four times longer—12 versus three minutes—than youngsters in similar but unreliable situations. Includes photos and video from the study, and a graph of results.
Did B. F. Skinner Raise His Children in a Skinner Box? Michael Britt of The Psych Files created this animation of Skinner talking — using Skinner’s actual voice and responses — to answer this long held belief in unique and entertaining way (Runs 3 minutes, 59 seconds). Posted October, 2014.
Discriminative Stimuli This hilarious video clip labeled “Why waste a temper tantrum if nobody is around to see it” can illustrate discriminative stimuli (thanks to Edward I. Pollak, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, for pointing this out to the PsychTeach discussion list).
Do we Get Nicer With Age? Amy Kluber, for Newsy, reports on a study by Christopher Soto and colleagues which found that people who were happier at the start of the study become more emotionally stable, conscientious, agreeable and introverted as they matured over the course of the study demonstrating that personality changes with life events. Posted April 22, 2014. Runs 1 minute 34 seconds.
Dream Conference Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #98, July 4, 2007). In this Podcast Dr. Dave, a.k.a. David Van Nuys, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Sonoma State University, interviews fascinating personalities in and around the broad field of psychology and gives you All the psychology you need to know and just enough to make you dangerous. Each episode often includes recommendations for background reading. In this episode, Dr. Dave interviews a variety of presenters and participants at the 24th International Association for The Study of Dreams conference held at Sonoma State Universiy, California June 29 – July 3, 2007. This is a remarkable organization inasmuch as it welcomes academic researchers, therapists of all stripes, and other dreamwork practitioners under the same tent.
Carol Dweck on Intelligence This biographical profile of Carol Dweck includes her education, career, major influences on her work, her major contributions to the field, her ideas, research interests, selected list of publications, and a transcript and video clips of an interview with Dweck on her work. From the site maintained by J. A. Plucker on all things related to intelligence, including biographical profiles of people who have influenced the development of intelligence theory and testing, in-depth articles exploring current controversies related to human intelligence, and resources for teachers.
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Editing Your Life’s Stories Can Create Happier Endings This piece from the NPR program All Things Considered uses the example of the author Lulu Miller’s nephew to illustrate the work of psychologist Tim Wilson.Wilson has been studying how small changes in a person’s own stories and memories can help with emotional health. He calls the process “story editing” And he says small tweaks in the interpretation of life events can reap huge benefits. From January 1, 2014. Includes a link to listen to the story, which runs 8 minutes, 54 second.
Elements of Master Teaching — Video Clips (2013) by Jeffrey R. Stowell (Eastern Illinois University) and R. Eric Landrum (Boise State University) is composed of 73 short YouTube videos of college teachers displaying qualities associated with elements of master teaching. Information about each clip is contained in a table that lists the clip length, course discipline, course level, and specific teacher behaviors demonstrated. Viewers can use YouTube’s built-in functions to submit comments and provide like/dislike ratings. The videos could be incorporated into teaching seminars, graduate student training, faculty development efforts, and research studies on the impact of viewing elements of master teaching behaviors.
Ethical Issues Through Movies and Other Art Resources This program takes users through the UNESCO’s Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights exploring human dignity and human rights, benefit and harm, autonomy and responsibility, respect, equality, privacy, cultural diversity and more. Each unit includes 2-5 minute video excerpts from movies (e.g., Twelve Angry Men) and TV shows (e.g., “Grey’s Anatomy”) to spark discussion. Also available in Spanish.
Albert Ellis The Official Biography and Research Site of Albert Ellis, constructed and maintained by psychologist Mike Abrams. Find information on rational emotive behavior therapy, audio and video clips of Ellis talking about his and other personality theories, and information about Ellis’ soon-to-be-published personality theory textbook.
Albert Ellis Doing REBT with Jeffrey Guterman (7 minutes, 45 seconds). The actual therapy portion is audio only.
Albert Ellis conducting Rational Emotive Therapy with Gloria Part 3 of the classic film Three Approaches to Psychotherapy (1965), which featured the same woman Gloria experiencing psychotherapy with Carl Rogers, Fritz Perls, and Albert Ellis. This third part Describes rational-emotive psycho-therapy as practiced by Dr. Albert Ellis. Shows his interview with patient Gloria and gives a summation of the effectiveness of the interview. Includes an evaluation by Gloria of her therapy with Doctors Carl Rogers, Frederick Perls, and Albert Ellis. (29 minutes: 48 seconds)
Albert Ellis interviewed by Jeffrey Guterman: Part I, 1988 (3 minutes, 36 seconds).
Albert Ellis interviewed by Jeffrey Guterman: Part II, 1989 (3 minutes, 40 seconds).
This Emotional Life From the website: “The Emmy Award-winning team of Vulcan Productions and the producers of NOVA have created a three-part series that explores improving our social relationships, learning to cope with depression and anxiety, and becoming more positive, resilient individuals. Harvard psychologist and best-selling author of Stumbling on Happiness, Professor Daniel Gilbert, talks with experts about the latest science on what makes us tick and how we can find support for the emotional issues we all face. Each episode weaves together the compelling personal stories of ordinary people and the latest scientific research along with revealing comments from celebrities like Chevy Chase, Larry David, Alanis Morissette, Robert Kennedy, Jr., and Richard Gere. The first episode, Family, Friends & Lovers, looks at the importance of relationships and why they are central to our emotional well-being (includes an excellent overview of Attachment theory). In the second episode, Facing Our Fears, we look at emotions that are commonly regarded as obstacles to happiness — such as anger, fear, anxiety, and despair (includes a discussion of Anger, Depression, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Stress and Anxiety). The last episode, Rethinking Happiness, explores happiness. It is so critical to our well-being, and, yet, it remains such an elusive goal for many of us” (includes Creativity and Flow, Forgiveness, Happiness, Humor, Meditation, Resilience). See more about the people and stories featured on the series, view selected video clips, learn more about the topics mentioned, find information about resources and support organizations, and purchase a DVD.
Erik Erikson’s 8-Stages Hoedown Undergraduate Matthew Volkmann made this video for his Ed Psych class at the University of Iowa. In it, he describes Erikson’s stages of identity development. The video runs 5 minutes, 20 seconds and starts with a loud scream). P. S. Matthew proudly reports that he got an A on this project!
Erikson’s Eight Stages of Life Michael Brit, former professor of psychology, broadcasts a podcast about psychology called The Psych Files. In this show (Episode 21) featuring interviews with people at the various stages, he takes a stroll through the various phases of life: from childhood, to adolescence, into mid-life and then we listen to two interesting voices of men nearing the end of their lives and they do so with very different perspectives, John Wayne and Roy.
Extreme Photo Retouching Images in the media can have a powerful effect on how self-concept and self-esteem on young people. Many are unaware of just how doctored up media images ares. This movie shows the photo retouching process in detail reinforcing the idea that images we see are often idealized and unrealistic (runs 2 minutes, 29 seconds).
Evolutionary Psychology – An Interview with Dr. David Buss. Michael Brit, former professor of psychology, broadcasts a podcast about psychology called The Psych Files. In this episode (June 20, 2009, Episode #98), he talks with Davis Buss about evolutionary psychology: Do you know your own mate value in the dating world? Curious about evolutionary psychology? In this interview with Dr. David Buss we discuss a number of interesting and controversial topics, such as the matching hypothesis and date rape. Are there evolutionary roots to the battle of the sexes and can we change our behavior? Find out in this interview.
Evolutionary Psychology: An Interview with David Buss (Part 1) Psychology teacher Michael Britt created an episode for his podcast, The Psych Files all about Evolutionary Psychology (Episode 111): Evolutionary Psychology – David Buss Responds to Critics. There has been a lot of criticism of evolutionary psychology lately. How do researchers respond? One of the leading researchers in this field – Dr. David Buss of the University of Texas responds to these critics in part 1 of this 2 part episode. Find out how he responds to these questions: a) is evolutionary psychology sexist?, b) doesn’t evolutionary psychology just give people the ammunition they need to not take responsibility for themselves? c) theories from evolutionary psychology are not falsifiable, this it’s not scientific and d) human society is always changing – it hasn’t been stable enough long enough for any human behavior to have evolved. (Originally released December 6, 2009).
Evolutionary Psychology: An Interview with David Buss (Part 2) Psychology teacher Michael Britt created an episode for his podcast, The Psych Files all about Evolutionary Psychology (Episode 112): David Buss Responds to Critics – Part 2 In part 2 of my interview with David Buss, he responds to more criticisms of evolutionary psychology. Here’s what we cover: a) does evolutionary psychology just give criminals another reason not to take responsibility for themselves?, b) is all the research in evolutionary psychology done on American college students?, c) are evolutionary psychology theories falsifiable? We cover such topics as whether women’s mating strategies change depending on where they are in their menstrual cycle? and How does evolutionary psychology might explain homosexuality? and what does evolutionary psychology say about cultural differences in the desire for women with a low waist-hip ratio? (Originally released December 16, 2009).
Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy and Education Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #115, October 14th, 2007). In this episode, Dr. Dave talks with Myrtle Heery, Ph.D., M.F.T., Associate Professor of Psychology, Sonoma State University and Adjunct Faculty at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, California and Director of the International Institute of Humanistic Studies through which she offers two-year training program nationally and internationally for helping professionals. She discusses the basics of existential-humanistic psychotherapy which emphasizes the present moment and the choices which face us, and a brief overview of the five tenets of existential therapy.
Little-albert by John B Watson – Akron psychology archives. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
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The Facebook Experiment: Reaction From Psychologists According to former psychology professor Michael Britt in his podcast The Psych Files: You’ve probably heard about the controversy over the Facebook manipulation of user’s News Feeds and the (possible) effect this had on user’s emotions. In the latest episode of The Psych Files I summarize the study and my conclusions about it. Also included on the website is a (large) concept map that also summarizes the study, links to references and Facebook’s official response. Also included in the map and the episode: suggestions for students regarding how a proper informed consent form might have been written and presented to students. Episode 22, July 1, 2014. Runs 33 minutes and 16 seconds.
False Memories? Don’t Forget The Scientific American Frontiers program has an episode titled Don’t Forget that includes a segment on false memories (When Memories Lie with researcher Elizabeth Loftus). You’ve always loved pizza, right? Wait, are you sure about that? If anyone can convince you that you don’t like pizza, Elizabeth Loftus of the University of California, Irvine can. Loftus is an expert on false memories. Originally broadcast, May 11th, 2004. Available for online streaming. Includes activities and teaching resources.
False Memories? True or False? In this episode of Scientific American Frontiers Recalling a happy memory seems like popping a favorite movie in the VCR, but Harvard’s Dan Schacter shows Alan Alda that human memories are much less dependable than videotape. Originally broadcast, November 21st, 2004. Available for online streamming. Includes activities and teaching resources.
Finding Little Albert Michael Britt created an episode for his podcast, The Psych Files, which discusses the curious story of how Little Albert, one of the most famous subjects in the history of psychology, was finally found. In this video episode (#114) Britt takes us through each step of the extensive and fascinating detective work which led to Albert’s identity. Includes some never seen before pictures.
The Five Factor Model: Johnny Carson Marianne Miserandino, Arcadia University, noticed that the obituary of Johnny Carson is filled with personality descriptors making it a useful illustration of the five factor model of personality, personality stability, personality change, and personality coherence. (For the full description of how to utilize this obituary as a case study see Miserandino, M. (2007) Heeeere’s Johnny: A Case Study in the Five Factor Model of Personality, Teaching of Psychology, 34(1), 37-40.See also this NPR interview with documentary filmmaker Peter Jones Johnny Carson: ‘King Of Late Night,’ A Man Unknown. May 14, 2012 (runs 9 minutes, 33 seconds).
Frankl, Viktor: Viktor Frankl Institut provides many resources for teaching about the life and work of Viktor Frankl, including a chronology of Frankl’s life and work with photographic illustrations, a 6-minute video interview of Frankl for streaming, a photo album biography, Frankl’s Vienna with an interactive map, information about the Viktor Frankl Archives, an overview of Frankl’s theory and the techniques of Logotherapy, and much more.
Viktor Frankl Documentary. The Viktor Frankl Institute, Vienna, Austria posted this 3-part documentary interview with Viktor Frankl on You Tube. Watch Part I (8 minutes, 41 seconds), Part II (10 minutes, 27 seconds), and Part III (9 minutes, 35 seconds) here.
Viktor Frankl on Behaviorism Frankl discusses his theory of logotherapy and Skinner’s theory of behaviorism and the impact of each on human behavior. Excerpted from a longer film (6 minutes, 46 seconds).
Viktor Frankl on Logotheory and Logotherapy. This 6 minute and 32 second video originally ran on U.S. television in 1972. Frankl describes the existential vacuum, mass neurosis, and the search for meaning.
Viktor Frankl Man Alive (1977) Frankl discusses his theories and his message of hope as an antidote to the problem of meaninglessness in this two-part interview from the 1977 TV program Man Alive (Part 1 runs 4 minutes and 28 seconds). Part 2 is available here (4 minutes, 23 seconds)
Anna Freud Photos Very brief overview of Anna Freud, including a photo montage.
Anna Freud: Media Resources. The Carter-Jenkins center maintains this page of resources on Anna Freud including photos and videos, slide presentations, and more.
Biography of Sigmund Freud. Biography, in its series on historical figures, produced this documentary on Sigmund Freud. The parts cover his life and his work in chronological order. Part 1 (10 minutes), Part 2 (9 minutes, 57 seconds), Part 3 (10 minutes, 01 second), Part 4 (9 minutes, 53 seconds), and Part 5 (4 minutes, 2 seconds).
If Freud Worked Tech Support Michael Brit, former professor of psychology, produces a podcast about psychology called The Psych Files. In this episode (Episode 224) he presents a humorous way to learn about the Freudian defense mechanisms (actually elaborated by Anna Freud) of Displacement, Denial, Sublimation, Reaction Formation, and Projection. A little dream analysis thrown in. Who knows? Maybe Freud would have been good at tech support (runs 4 minutes, and 8 seconds).
Sigmund Freud’s Voice Toward the end of his life, Freud was asked by the BBC to provide a brief statement about his decades-long career in psychoanalysis. He offered a succinct overview in 1938 which you can hear for yourself in his voice: I started my professional activity as a neurologist trying to bring relief to my neurotic patients. Under the influence of an older friend and by my own efforts, I discovered some important and new facts about the unconscious in psychic life, the role of instinctual urges and so on. Out of these findings grew a new science, Psycho-Analysis, a part of psychology and a new method of treatment of the neuroses. I had to pay heavily for this bit of good luck. People did not believe in my facts and thought my theories unsavoury. Resistance was strong and unrelenting. In the end I succeeded in acquiring pupils and building up an International Psycho-Analytic Association. But this struggle is not yet over. Sigmund Freud. Also available here. (2 minutes)
Sigmund Freud Speaks: The Only Known Recording of His Voice, 1938 Open Culture: the best free cultural & educational media on the web, presents a link to this recording of Freud on for the BBC December 7, 1938. Includes the text of his statement, written in his own handwriting. (runs 1 minutes 57 seconds).
Freud, Sigmund Photobiography In this photobiography, we will explore Freud’s life from his birth in the tiny town of Frieberg, Moravia, to his death at age 83 in London. Along the way, you will learn more about how his life and work influenced the theories and ideas that continue to influence psychology, philosophy, literature, and art.
Sigmund Freud: Conflict and Culture This online exhibit based on the 1999 Library of Congress exhibit features vintage photographs, prints, manuscripts and first editions. Also displayed are home movies of Freud and objects from his study and consulting room–including materials from his desk, the chair in which he sat when listening to patients, a model of his consulting couch, and pieces from his own collection of antiquities. Selected film and television clips, and materials from newspapers, magazines and comic books are interwoven throughout the exhibition to highlight the pervasive influence of psychoanalysis on popular culture. Exhibit items are drawn largely from the collections of the Library of Congress, supplemented with loans from other important holdings, especially those of the Sigmund Freud-Museum in Vienna, and the Freud Museum in London.
Freud, Projective Tests and …. Poetry Psychology teacher Michael Britt created an episode for his podcast, The Psych Files all about projection (Episode 107): How do the Rorschach, the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and the House, Tree, Person tests work? Do you reveal something about yourself when you tell stories about pictures or tell what you see in an inkblot or even when you do something as seemingly innocent as drawing a picture of a house? In this episode I try to answer these questions as well as show you how a wonderful poem called How It Will End by Denise Duhamel could be an excellent example of psychology in everyday life.
The Freud/Jung Letters Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #97, June 22, 2007). In this episode, Dr. Dave talks with Freud scholar Dr. Douglas A. Davis, about a book chapter he wrote on the letters between Freud and Jung.
Happy Birthday, Dr. Freud Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #42, July 20, 2006) On the occasion of Sigmund Freud’s 150th anniversary year, Dr. Dave interviews Dr. Douglas A. Davis, who recently retired from full-time teaching at Haverford College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania where he was professor of psychology and for many years department chair. Among his many interests, Doug is a Freud scholar and he’s also one of the most interesting conversationalists it’s ever been my pleasure to know.
Freudian Theory Satire: Floyd Freud The Paranoid Android Not exactly meant to be taken seriously, but this video by Brian Pearcy is well-done and might serve as an interesting discussion-starter.
Freud: How to Memorize Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development From the site: Need to memorize Freud’s stages of psychosexual development for a test? Here’s a mnemonic that should do the trick. In this brief video, the founder of psychoanalysis gives you a mnemonic and explains the 5 stages for you. What do orangutans and ogres have to do with Freud’s stages? They’ll help you remember them, that’s what. Find out how in this video episode of The Psych Files podcast, Episode 202, September 7, 2013. (runs 4 minutes, 43 seconds).
Erich Fromm documentary. Erich Fromm discusses his theories and philosophies in this documentary excerpted in four parts. Watch Part 1 (6 minutes, 25 seconds),Part 2 (10 minutes, 5 seconds), Part 3, (6 minutes, 6 seconds) and Part 4 (5 minutes, 19 seconds).
Erich Fromm interviewed by Mike Wallace in this vintage documentary from 1958. Runs 29 minutes, 35 seconds.
Erich Fromm radio lecture. How Can Conflicts Be Resolved Without War? given on April 2, 1970. (Audio with photos). Part 1: (9 minutes, 20 seconds), Part 2: (8 minutes, 43 seconds), Part 3: (9 minutes, 52 seconds), Part 4: (9 minutes, 42 seconds) and Part 5: (9 minutes, 14 seconds).
Fun: The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun Get focused, be creative, use your wisdom, take action and in the end have more fun in your life. This multi-media presentation is also available in a French and Spanish version.
P genetics by User:Kontos – Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
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Gender: “Give it to Your Woman” Pants’ Care Instructions A certain brand of men’s trousers, sold by a British clothier, carries the washing instructions “Machine wash . . . or give it to your woman, it’s her job”. This statement caused an outcry on Twitter when first discovered by British technology writer Emma Barnett. Is the label a joke or an insult to women? Let your students be the judge.
Gender: Myth Busters: You Throw Like a Girl The Myth Busters team from the Discovery Channel bring out the evidence and take on the insult You throw like a girl. See how they debunk this myth of gender differences in this video (runs 3 minutes 39 seconds). Published June 5, 2013.
Gender Non-Conformity in a Tide Ad This ad depicts a mom who is exasperated at her daughter’s non-conformity with gender roles. While the mom tries to be supportive of her daughter’s non-traditional efforts, her obvious discomfort illustrate that gendered expectations for behavior still run strong.
Gender: Philip Zimbardo: The Demise of Guys? In this TED talk Psychologist Philip Zimbardo asks, “Why are boys struggling?” He shares some stats (lower graduation rates, greater worries about intimacy and relationships) and suggests a few reasons, and challenges the TED community to think about solutions. (Posted August 2011. Duration: 4:47)
Gender: Powerful Ad Shows What A Little Girl Hears When You Tell Her She’s Pretty According to the National Science Foundation, 66% of 4th grades girls say they like math and science, yet women make up only 18% of engineering majors in college. This Verizon commercial illustrates the social cues which may discourage girls from math and science during their early childhood. Posted July 2014. (Runs 1 minute and 3 seconds).
Gender: Riley on Gendered Marketing Riley Maida, age 4, has had enough of pink princesses being marketed to girls and super heroes being marketed to boys. She speaks out for the cessation of gendered toy marketing and the elimination of gendered stereotypes. See also this link to an ABC News profile on Riley.
Gender: Vintage Lego Ad and article on Social Media Backlash against the new Legos.
Gender: Dar Williams: When I was A Boy: video and lyrics. Folk Singer Dar Williams sings her original composition When I Was a Boy, a moving reflection on childhood when kids can climb trees, pick flowers, cry, and run with Peter Pan without worrying about what society says a grown-up woman — or grown-up man — can and can’t do. (4 minutes, 48 seconds).
Gender: What it feels like for a girl? The men from the hit TV series Glee sing this very moving rendition of the Madonna hit describing the pressures that girls feel to be a little less. Check out the lyrics here (runs 4 minutes, 36 seconds).
Gender: Barbie says: Math class is tough This video presents the original 1992 Teen Talk Barbie saying the controversial phrase Math class is tough. The company later dropped the phrase and apologized after criticism from the American Association of University Women in its report on how schools shortchange girls. Click here for the original story in The New York Times, October 21, 1992.
Gender: How Do You Learn to Act Like a Man/Woman? Gender Identity and Gender Scripts. How do we learn to act in what are called “gender appropriate” ways? How did you learn to act like a girl and then a woman? Or like a boy and then like a man? Did you experience either penis envy or womb envy? Did this happen as a result of what Freud would call an oedipal complex or perhaps does our tendency to behave in stereotypical masculine and feminine ways come about more simply as a result of watching other males and females in your family, among your friends and on TV? In this episode of former psychology professor Michael Brit’s, podcast about psychology called The Psych Files [Episode 94, May 18, 2009] he looks at the interesting and complex issue of gender identity.
Gender: Girls! Be a Scientist! You Too Can Dance In the Lab In High Heels! The European Commission released a teaser video to recruit young women into science by making it appear sexier and more fun (e.g. images of make up to illustrate chemistry and materials science and very attractive women scientists). The video was quickly pulled due to sharp criticism. Knight Science Journalism Tracker writer Deborah Blum comments on the buzz the video created along with a link of the original 53-second video. This video and the surrounding controversy would be a good way to introduce the idea of gender stereotyping, gender expectations, and gender differences in personality to your students or for a possible debate on the pros and cons of presenting science and scientists in this manner. Posted June 22, 2012.
Gender and Race Equity in Math, Science, and Technology Patricia B. Campbell, of Campbell-Kibler Associates, does research and evaluation to increase gender and race equity in math, science, and technology education. She has turned her findings into user-friendly reports, brochures, and pamphlets available on their site to view, download, print, and share with parents, educators, and children. Topics include Myths, Stereotypes, and Gender Differences; No Virginia, There is No Math Gene; Making It Happen: Pizza Parties, Chemistry Goddesses and Other Strategies that Work for Girls and Others; and much, much more.
Genes and Memes: Just for Hits – Richard Dawkins Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins describes the process of evolution focusing on successful and unsuccessful genes and memes in this entertaining and unusual introduction to the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors’ Showcase 2013 in Cannes (runs 8 minutes and 47 seconds).
Genetics: Britain Could Create First ‘Three-parent Baby’ Through IVF Parents at high risk of having children with severe disabilities such as muscular dystrophy will be offered the controversial new IVF treatment after it was given the green light by ministers in the UK today according to this article and video in The Telegraph, June 28, 2013. Video runs 2 minutes, 6 seconds.
Genetics: GATTACA The web page for this 1997 sci fi movie with the wonderful tag line There is no gene for the human spirit includes brief video clips. These clips would be an attention-grabbing way to introduce students to the basic questions about genetics and personality. And it’s fun to see Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law early in their careers.
Genetics: Gorillas, Watermelons and Sperm: The Greatest Genomes Sequenced in 2012 Scientists identified the genetic codes of some of the world’s most fascinating animals and plants. Check out what they found in this online photo gallery of 8 stunning images posted by Popular Science, January 2, 2013.
Genetics: Selective Breeding of the Silver Fox. From the website The silver fox, a color variation of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), has been domesticated in a controlled experiment at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics in Novosibirsk, Russia. Starting in 1959, and selected solely on behavioral criteria for more than 40 generations, a strain of foxes with behavior extremely similar to domestic dogs was produced. Tame foxes exhibit highly social behavior with both other members of their own species and humans in a playful, friendly manner. In contrast, foxes from an unselected population, or from a strain bred for aggressive behavior, avoid social interactions with humans. Check out videos of fox behavior, a map of the fox genome, recent publications and more on this project which is an international collaborative between Cornell University, the Russian Academy of Sciences and the University of Utah.
Should We Genetically Screen Four-Year-Olds? Would true equality in education mean testing children’s genetics at the age of four, so that any learning difficulties revealed can be accommodated right from the start of primary education? Hear Robert Plomin on the role genetics play in children’s success. From The Guardian, July 17, 2015. (audio interview; runs 42 minutes and 46 seconds).
Genotype-Environment Interaction Perhaps you’ve seen this cute video of the baby emphatically chattering on and on to her dad. Have your class imagine the kind of reactions she is likely to elicit from people around her — starting with her dad and her mom — and you’ve got a good illustration of an active genotype-environment interaction (1 minute and 22 seconds).
Genetics: Nature or Nurture? The New Role of Epigenetics In this lecture from August, 2014, Eastern Illinois University psychologist Jeffrey Stowell, PhD, discusses epigenetics, including a look at genetics and behavior and epigenetic mechanisms. From his APA Pre-Convention Workshop for Introductory Psychology Teachers. Runs 30 minutes, 24 seconds.
Gestalt Therapy with Victor Daniels Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #21, January 14, 2006). Victor Daniels is Professor of Psychology and past chair at Sonoma State University. As editor of the online journal, Gestalt, and teacher of a Gestalt Therapy class (which he and I co-taught years ago), he is an expert on the state of Gestalt Therapy today.
Daniel Gilbert: Synthetic Happiness From the website: Dan Gilbert is a psychology professor at Harvard, and author of Stumbling on Happiness. In this memorable talk, filmed at TED2004, he demonstrates just how poor we humans are at predicting (or understanding) what will make us happy. (Recorded July 2005 in Oxford, UK. Duration: 22:02).
Dan Gilbert Asks, Why are We Happy? Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, challenges the idea that we’ll be miserable if we don’t get what we want. Our ‘psychological immune system’ lets us feel truly happy even when things don’t go as planned in this TED talk filmed February 2004. Subtitles are available in 32 different languages. Runs 21 minutes and 20 seconds.
Dan Gilbert On Our Mistaken Expectations Dan Gilbert presents research and data from his exploration of happiness — sharing some surprising tests and experiments that you can also try on yourself in this TED talk filmed July 2005. Subtitles are available in 25 different languages. Runs 33 minutes and 35 seconds.
Dan Gilbert: Stumbling on Happiness Harvard Psychologist and author of the best-selling Stumbling on Happiness Daniel Gilbert discusses his book and how humans find — and don’t find — happiness in this talk from the 2009 Aspen Ideas Festival. Runs 51 minutes and 4 seconds.
Girls Equal Boys in Math An analysis of performance on math tests finds that girls match boys. And no gender difference can be found among top performers either, according to research by Janet Shibley Hyde and colleagues as reported in Science, July 25, 2008. Click here for a summary and online supplemental material, or listen to a summary from 60-second science here.
Gloomy Thinking Can Be Contagious A particular style of thinking — interpreting the causes of negative events as internal and stable or external and unstable — may actually infect roommates making them more or less vulnerable to depression six months later. This, according to research published by Gerald Haeffel and Jennifer Hames in the journal Clinical Psychological Science and described in this report from NPR’s Morning Edition, June 24, 2013. Runs 4 minutes, 25 seconds.
Gratitude: Scientists Discover One of the Greatest Contributing Factors to Happiness — You’ll Thank Me Later What happens when people write a gratitude letter to a special person in their lives and then call that person and read their letter out lout to them? The result is happiness, according to psychological research demonstrated by this feel-good video. Runs 7 minutes 14 seconds.
Sam Gosling: Snoop: The Secret Language of Stuff Gosling, author of Snoop, presents an overview of his research to the Commonwealth Club of California in this video. Topics include creativity and openness, Facebook profiles, faking a personal space, and much more. The site includes a biography of Gosling, highlights of the talk, transcript, and the entire talk (1 hour; 7 minutes).
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Happiness: The Happiest Place on Earth by Ed Diener From the Baylor Academics Channel on YouTube: The world authority on happiness and well-being research, Dr. Ed Diener, of the University of Illinois discusses the happiest and unhappiest places on earth according to the latest research in a conversation with Professor Michael B. Frisch of Baylor University, November 05, 2010 (runs 14 minutes and 43 seconds)
Happiness: What You Need To Be Happy by Professor Ed Diener From the Baylor Academics Channel on YouTube: The world authority on happiness and well-being research, Dr. Ed Diener, of the University of Illinois discusses what you need to be happy according to the latest research in a conversation with Professor Michael B. Frisch of Baylor University, November 22, 2010 (runs 11 minutes, 53 seconds).
The Happiness Hypothesis Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #142, March 14, 2008). In this episode, Dr. Dave talks with Jonathan Haidt, Ph.D., a social and cultural psychologist and author of the 2006 book, The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom.
The Happiness Formula The BBC aired a series of specials on happiness on July 4, 2008. Read the background of this series including The Science of Happiness, Britain’s Happiness in Decline, The Politics of Happiness, take the Happiness Test (writeen for the BBC by Ed Diener) and read about Happy Tips from other people. The site also includes video clips on What is happiness? (2:26 minutes), The power of happiness (10:40 minutes), What really motivates us? (2:06 minutes), Bhutan’s happiness formula (8:39 minutes), The politics of happiness (10:27 minutes), and Think yourself happy (3:13 minutes).
Happiness: Scientists Discover One of the Greatest Contributing Factors to Happiness — You’ll Thank Me Later What happens when people write a gratitude letter to a special person in their lives and then call that person and read their letter out lout to them? The result is happiness, according to psychological research demonstrated by this feel-good video. Runs 7 minutes 14 seconds.
The Happy Secret to Better Work From the website: We believe that we should work to be happy, but could that be backwards? In this fast-moving and entertaining talk from TEDxBloomington, psychologist Shawn Achor argues that actually happiness inspires productivity. (Runs 12 minutes, 21 seconds)
The hunter of happiness by Harry Popoff – The hunter of happiness. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Heal Thyself: Think Positive Realism may be bad for your health: believing things will turn out fine or feeling safe and secure may help the body maintain and repair itself according to research by David Creswell and colleagues reviewed in this summary and video (3 minutes, 5 seconds) from New Scientist, August 29, 2011.
Homosexuality in the DSM: 81 words In this episode of the NPR program This American Life, originally broadcast January 18, 2002, host Ira Glass describes The story of how the American Psychiatric Association decided in 1973 that homosexuality was no longer a mental illness and struck out 81 words from the DSM. (60 minutes; Can be listened to online for free, download for a small fee, or purchased on CD).
Hormones and Trust Oxytocin, the trust hormone appears to increase our trust in others, even momentarily lowering our distrust of strangers. But what happens to people who are born with a genetic syndrome in which they are unable to regulate oxytocin? Hear this fascinating story of a 9-year-old girl with Williams Syndrome and current research on oxytocin and trust (including trust in government) in this feature from All Things Considered on National Public Radio, April 22, 2010 (runs 8 minutes, 36 seconds).
How Much Does Happiness Cost in Your State? According to ABC News In a popular study by psychologist Daniel Kahneman and economist Angus Deaton, it was determined that the magic income is $75,000 a year. According to the study, as people earn more money, their day-to-day happiness (or Emotional Well-Being) rises. They put together a map estimating how much it takes in each state to reach this idea level of income. In some states like Utah and Mississippi, it takes less, while in others, New York, Connecticut, and Hawaii, it takes much more. July 18, 2014.
The How of Happiness What makes people happy? Is happiness a good thing? How can we make people happier still? Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky, University of California, Riverside, draws on her own research to offer listeners a guide to increasing happiness in their lives for both the short term and the long term. From a talk given at Clarmont College, March 4, 2008. (available in multiple formats for video streaming).
How We Elevate Each Other: Viktor Frankl on the Human Spirit and Why Idealism Is the Best Realism In an excerpt from a 1972 lecture at the University of Toronto, Viktor Frankl brimming with his humble wisdom and disarming wit… makes a beautiful case for believing in each other and viewing the human spirit with hope rather than cynicism. Runs 4 minutes, 21 seconds.
TED Radio Hour: The Pursuit of Happiness NPR and TED talks created this compilation of TED talks on a single topic. For this one, three speakers offer some big ideas for achieving happiness: Barry Schwartz on ”Does having options make us happier? (11:58); Kathyrn Schultz on “Why should we embrace regret? (17:54); and Malcolm Gladwell on “What does spaghetti sauce have to do with happiness? (18:44).
Human Genome Project The Human Genome Project created this free online multimedia educational kit “Exploring Our Molecular Selves” for high school students and the interested public. The kit can be viewed online or downloaded, and includes the following topics: A Dynamic Timeline; Genes, Variation and Human History; How to Sequence a Genome; Ethical, Legal and Social Issues; Bioinformatics; Exploring Our Molecular Selves (Video); and a Glossary of Genetic Terms.
Human Rights Campaign: Working for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Equal Rights. As part of the Human Rights Campaign’s mission to education the public, o this website they provide background information on visibility and coming out, a video about understanding transgender issues through the personal story of Donna Rose, information on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and a blog.
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“i,” a short film by Chris Ladd Skidmore senior Chris Ladd created this 32 minute film about the search for identity. From the website: “i” is a short documentary with a simple question as its premise: Who am I? Who is anybody? What is identity? To find out, ‘i’ looks to psychology, to philosophy, to friends, and a professional psychic, and comes to a conclusion that shakes the film’s premise to its core. Along the way the film summarizes Freud, projective testing, Jung, objective testing, the MBTI, the MMPI, criterion keying, and existentialism.
Identical Strangers Explore Nature vs. Nature Paula Bernstein and Eylse Schein were identical twins who were separated at birth and met 35 years later as identical strangers. In the course of researching the history of their birth and adoption, they discovered that they were part of a secret research project in which identical twins, particularly those of mothers with mental illness, were raised separately to asses the relative influence of nature and nurture. This NPR story describing their amazing story includes a photo gallery of the twins growing up. Based on their book Identical Strangers (Random House, 2007). From All Things Considered, NPR, October 25, 2007.
Identity through the lifespan The song One Hundred Years by Five For Fighting captures what it’s like to be 15 and madly in love and then follows that love through an imagined life time. Check out the lyrics here. Would make a good introduction to identity, Erikson, and personality stability and change. First link was to the original, try this unusual montage here.
Identity vs. Role Confusion The song and video Numb by Linkin Park vividly illustrates Erikson’s Identity vs. Role Confusion stage. Check out the lyrics here
If at First You Don’t Succeed…You’re in Excellent Company Writer Melinda Beck, in this Wall Street Journal article with accompanying slide show, tells the story of famous people who overcame setbacks on the road to success, including J.K. Rowling, Michael Jordan, Walt Disney, and others.
Image Library of the University of California A project of the California Digital Library, Calisphere features oral histories, photos, and other media covering themed collections organized by historical era; images of African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics Americans, and Native Americans; the Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive and more. Special section for teachers of K-12 History and Social Sciences and how the collection meets the California curriculum standards for these classes.
Integrity vs. Despair: Johnny Cash Hurt The images of an aged Johnny Cash singing the song Hurt interspersed with images of him as a young man poignantly illustrate the despair aspect of Erikson’s Developmental Stage Integrity vs. Despair: What have I become? My sweetest friend. Everyone I know goes away in the end. And you could have it all: my empire of dirt. Music and lyrics by Trent Reznor. (4 minutes, 2 seconds).
Inside Social Modeling With Albert Bandura The Association for Psychological Science presented this special edition of ‘’Inside the Psychologist’s Studio’’ featuring an in-depth interview with Albert Bandura. Filmed August 26, 2013 at Stanford University, the video runs 46 minutes and 03 seconds.
Intrinsic Motivation Beth Hennessey, Wellesley College, conducts research on creativity and intrinsic motivation. These video clips show an interview with a child as he discusses his motivation in school. In the first clip, the child talks about his interest in Social Studies and the satisfaction he gains from working hard on individual projects. In the second video clip the child talks about his experience of learning about constellations at school and his excitement to share his new knowledge with his family in the evening.
Introversion: Caring for Your Introvert: The Habits and Needs of a Little-Understood Group Do you know someone who needs hours alone every day? Who loves quiet conversations about feelings or ideas, and can give a dynamite presentation to a big audience, but seems awkward in groups and maladroit at small talk? If you answered yes to these questions, chances are that you have an introvert on your hands—and that you aren’t caring for him properly.
Iconic Psychiatrist Carl Jung on Human Personality in Rare BBC Interview Maria Popova of Brain Pickings introduces this video: On October 22 of 1959, BBC’s Face to Face — an unusual series of pointed, almost interrogative interviews seeking to “unmask public figures” — aired a segment on Jung […] Eighty-four at the time and still working, he talks to New Statesman editor John Freeman about education, religion, consciousness, human nature, and his temperamental differences with Freud, which sparked his study of personality types. Includes a transcript of the highlights. (Runs 39 minutes, 28 seconds).
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The BBC Interview (1959). From the page: John Freeman interviews Carl Gustav Jung, the most famous living psychologist, at his home in Zürich. We learn about Jung’s early life, including the moment in his eleventh year when he realized he was an individual consciousness. Jung speaks about his friendship with Sigmund Freud, and explains why the friendship could not last. Jung is asked about his belief in God, and Jung can only respond that there is no belief: he knows. And, he says, he knows – knows, not believes – that death is not an end. Finally, Jung forecasts what he thinks will happen to mankind and describes what man needs to survive.Also available here. Runs 39 minutes and 27 seconds.
Face to Face with Carl Jung. Black and white video of an interview with Carl Jung. Part 1 (10 minites), Part 2 (10 minutes, 5 seconds), Part 3 (10 minutes, 5 seconds), Part 4 (10 minutes, 6 seconds).
Carl Jung: Matter of Heart The documentary Matter of Heart, about the life and work of Carl Jung: The life and thinking of the great Swiss psychiatrist, Carl Gustav Jung, is examined. Interviews are done with those who knew him, most of whom were analyzed by him and very often became analysts themselves. Jung’s own words appear on screen, and archive footage of Jung himself is shown. We learn aspects of his private life, including his relationship with his wife, Emma, and his mistress, Toni Wolff. But mostly we learn of his philosophy, sometimes mystical in nature, regarding the collective unconscious, the ego-personality, anima and animus, and more. (105 minutes).
Jung on Meeting Freud Carl G. Jung discusses his first encounter with Sigmund Freud (runs 37 seconds).
The Red Book of C. G. Jung with Nancy Furlotti Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #242, July 23, 2010). In this episode, Dr. Dave talks with Jungian Analyst and past president of the Jung Institute of Los Angeles, Nancy Furlotti about the recently-published Red Book of Carl Jung, which she was instrumental in helping to publish. In this book, Jung describes his own experience with the unconscious and the individuation process towards greater wholeness as reflected in mythological symbols.
Jungian Sandplay Therapy Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #135, January 30, 2008). In this episode, Dr. Dave talks with Liza J. Ravitz, Ph.D., a Jungian Analyst who teaches at the San Francisco C.G. Jung Institute’s continuing education program. Liza practices in San Francisco and Petaluma where she works with children and adults, conducts consultation groups for therapists and presents sandplay workshops.
The Use of Active Imagination in Jungian Sandplay Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #278, September 9, 2011). In this episode, Dr. Dave talks with Maria Hess, Ph.D., a Jungian Analyst who teaches Sonoma State University. Maria teaches, practices and presents workshops in sandplay and other non-verbal expressive modalities.
Adventures in Jungian Typology Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #140, February 29, 2008). In this episode, Dr. Dave talks with John Beebe, M.D., is a Jungian analyst in practice in San Francisco. He received degrees from Harvard College and the University of Chicago medical school. He is a past President of the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco, where he is currently on the teaching faculty, as well as Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California Medical School, San Francisco.
Jung: Stories of the Middle Passage Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology Talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #244, August 19 2010). In this episode, Dr. Dave talks with Jungian analysis James Hollis as he describes the theory of Carl Jung, especially as it pertains to the second half of life (middle age and beyond) (runs 1 hour, 3 minutes, and 35 seconds).
Jung Speaks PsicoMundo, a Spanish language website about psychoanalysis, has two audio clips in their Galería de Sonidos (Gallery of Sounds) of Carl Jung speaking (the clips are in English). Fragmento 1 (Fragment 1) is 16 seconds, Fragmento 2 (Fragment 2) is 23 seconds. They are available for listening (para escuchar) on line or off line.
A Jungian Approach to Fairy Tales Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #293, February 3, 2012). In this episode, Dr. Dave talks with Tom Elsner about fairy tales and their interpretation from a Jungian perspective. (1:20:50m)
A Jungian View of the Feminine in Film. Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #166, August 1, 2008). In this episode, Dr. Dave talks with John Beebe, M.D., the co-author, along with Virginia Apperson, of the book, The Presence of The Feminine in Film. An avid film buff, Beebe frequently draws upon American movies to illustrate how the various types of consciousness and unconsciousness interact to produce images of Self and shadow in the stories of our lives that Jung called individuation. Dr. Beebe is particularly well known for his elaboration in C.G. Jung’s theory of psychological types.
Jung: Exploring Synchronicity Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #303, May 4, 2012). In this episode, Dr. Dave talks with Jungian Analyst Dr. Jeffrey Raff about his views and experiences with synchronicity. (1:08:51)
Jung: The Hero’s Journey and Dreams Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #301, April 20, 2012). In this episode, Dr. Dave talks with Kelly Sullivan Walden about Joseph Campbell’s model of the hero’s journey as it applies to dreams. (1:08:51)
Jung: Tragic Beauty: The Dark Side of Venus Aphrodite Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #301, May 11, 2012). In this episode, Dr. Dave talks with Jungian Analyst and mythology scholar Arlene Diane Landau exploring the dark side of the Venus Aphrodite archetype. (1:08:23)
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Melanie Klein PsicoMundo, a Spanish language website about psychoanalysis, has a slide show of 31 photos from Melanie Klein’s life. To get there, once this page loads, click on Fotographías (on the left) and wait for the Java Applet to start.
Laughter 2 by David Shankbone by David Shankbone – David Shankbone. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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The Laugh Song illustrates how laughter — and some kinds of jokes — are universal.
Learned Helplessness In this video clip Charisse Nixon, Developmental Psychologist at Penn State Erie, discusses the phenomenon of learned helplessness and applies it to the social realm of teenagers. (Shot by Mark Steensland) (6 minutes, 55 seconds).
Learning Unit 8 from the Discovering Psychology series is all about Learning and includes a discussion of Instrumental Conditioning and the theories of Pavlov, Thorndike, Watson and Skinner and includes videos of little Albert. (The entire series is available for video streaming with free registration).
The Lifetime Effects of Self-Control in Childhood In following a cohort of individuals from birth to their late 30s, Terrie Moffitt and her colleagues found that children who scored low on a variety of self-control measures at age 3 were more likely as adults to have criminal records, addictions, welfare dependency, low financial savings, bad credit ratings, and health problems compared with those who scored high on self-control as toddlers. Watch her keynote address at the inaugural International Convention of Psychological Science in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, March 13, 2015 in this video. Runs 49 minutes and 2 seconds.
Little Albert and John Watson This original film demonstrates how fear is a conditioned response. Watch while the famous infant Little Albert shows no fear to various objects including a dog, a monkey, a burning newspaper, and a white rat. Then watch while Watson conditions fear in Albert by pairing the white rat with a banging noise. See how the response generalizes to all furry things. (2 minutes, 36 seconds; with Spanish sub-titles).
Little Albert and John Watson This original film demonstrates how fear is a conditioned response. Watch while the famous infant Little Albert shows no fear to various objects including a dog, a monkey, a burning newspaper, and a white rat. Then watch while Watson conditions fear in Albert by pairing the white rat with a banging noise. See how the response generalizes to all furry things. (2 minutes, 36 seconds; with Spanish sub-titles).
The Little Albert Study: What You Know is Mostly Wrong Michael Britt created an episode for his podcast, The Psych Files, which discusses the real story behind Little Albert, one of the most famous subjects in the history of psychology. In this episode (#47) Britt explains, If you think you know a lot about the little Albert experiment conducted by John Watson? Well, guess what – you’d be surprised at how much of the story is simply not true. If you’re wondering whatever happened to little Albert, whether the little Albert study created a lasting phobia in a small boy, or even what place this story has in the history of behaviorism, then I suggest you take a listen to this episode of The Psych Files and get the facts on this fascinating part of psychology’s history.
Locus of Control from Two Guys On Your Head Two Guys on Your Head is a short feature, produced at KUT Radio, that explores topics associated with the brain. In this episode, University of Texas Professors Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke explain what locus of control is and review the evidence which suggests that though people differ in their view of reality believing that they have control over their outcomes or not, we can change our perceptions to cope better — even giving up control as circumstances warrant. (Audio; runs 8 minutes).
Longitudinal Research: George Vaillant Video. George Vaillant, of the Grant Study of Harvard graduates, describes his insights from the study in this video supplement to the “Atlantic Monthly” article on Vaillant, the Grant study, and the pursuit of happiness. His conclusion: Growing old is not as scary as we thought when we were younger (runs 6 minutes, 51 seconds).
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Machiavellianism: Ferris Bueller, the lovable high Machiavellian In this scene from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986), Ferris Bueller pretends he is Abe Froman, the sausage king of Chicago in order to have a fancy luncheon out with his friends. This situation contains the three conditions which allow high machs to perform their best: a face to face interaction, the latitude for improvisation, and the arousal of irrelevant emotion. (2 minutes, 53 seconds).
Maslow, Abraham Contains books in print, audio visual materials, electronic versions of selected works, many of these resources are downloadable, some for a fee.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in gif format.
The Meditating Brain With Richard Davidson Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #231, February 26, 2010). In this episode, Dr. Dave talks with Richard J. Davidson, Research Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry and Director of the W.M. Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain Imaging and Behavior, the Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience and the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds, Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, about the impact of meditation on the brain.
Men Are From Earth, Women Are From Earth From empathy and sexuality to science inclination and extroversion, statistical analysis of 122 different characteristics involving 13,301 individuals shows that men and women, by and large, do not fall into different groups according to research by Bobbi Carothers and Harry Reis (2013) published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Includes a graphic comparing distributions of men and women on physical strength and masculinity-assertiveness; and a video of Harry Reis explaining their work and what it means (runs 3 minutes, 24 seconds).
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy Video Toolkit This toolkit consists of seven videos, up to 16 minutes each, with accompanying worksheets and information, on Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) by Jay Uhdinger.
Walter Mischel on The Colbert Report The Colbert Report, a popular late-night satirical television program, featured special guest psychologist Walter Mischel to discuss his new book on the marshmallow test. In this segment, Mischel performs the test on Colbert with hilarious results. Through it all, Mischel remains cool despite Colbert’s antics, summarizes the results of this classic research program, and even admits to not liking marshmallows! From September 25, 2014. The segment with Mischel starts at 15:23 and runs about 5 minutes.
Motivation: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us Dan Pink, author of books about the changing world of work, gave a talk on motivation at a recent convention of The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). In this video, he presents a condensed version of his talk while an artist draws amazing graphics to illustrate his ideas. The result is a stunning tour-de-force summary of about a dozen or so psychological studies on what motivates us (runs 10 minutes, 48 seconds).
Motorcyclist Thrown After Crash, Walks Away I can either land on my feet or my head right now is what was going through the mind of 24 year old Michel Smith as he was hit by a car while riding his motorcycle through an intersection in Florida. Amazingly, he flipped head-over-heels, landed on his feet, and walked away. Posted July 2014. Runs 51 seconds.
MRI — The Magnetic Miracle Game NobelPrize.org, the official site of the Nobel prize, presents this interactive game which illustrates how an MRI works, why metal can not be near the apparatus, and how does MRI compare to x-ray and CAT images.
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Narcissism Among Celebrities, on Facebook and in Shakespeare From the website: Are celebrities really more narcissistic than you are? Is your Facebook page telling the world that you are a narcissist? And finally: who is Shakespeare’s most narcissistic character? I’ll give you a hint: the character can be found in Twelfth Night. So if you’re looking for more information about the Narcissistic Personality Disorder, or just everyday narcissism, as well as examples of famous narcissists, you’ll find it in this in this episode of The Psych Files. (Originally released November 22, 2009).
Neuroscience: Phineas Gage For the 21st Century A 24-year old Brazilian construction worker survived after a 6-foot metal bar fell from above and pierced his head according to this video and article from the Associated Press which ran August 17, 2012.
Neuroscience: The Voodoo Debate On the heels of the famous Ed Vul, Nancy Kanwisher and Hal Pashler paper Voodoo Correlations in Social Neuroscience, Matt Lieberman and Piotr Winkielman continued the debate at the annual meeting of the Society of Experimental Social Psychologists (SESP) in 2009. Background information about the original paper which started the controversy is available here.
Neuroscience: Phineas P. Gage Check out the only known photograph (daguerreotype) of Phineas Gage, the foreman who sustained a serious and amazing head wound which changed his personality for the rest of his life. Provides links to background information on Phineas P. Gage. Also available here and an NPR story on him here.
A Neuroscientist Uncovers a Dark Secret Neuroscientist James Fallon, upon learning that he came from a lineage of violent people, compared the brain scans of his family and was disturbed to realize that his brain resembled the brain of a psychopath. In this story by Barbara Bradley Hagerty from NPR’s Morning Edition from June 29 2010, Fallon reflects upon the science of genetics, neuroscience, and the role of nurture in making us who we are. This link is to the text version of the story. Links are also available to listen to the original broadcast, about 8 minutes. First story in the three-part series ”Inside the Criminal Brain”. Part 2 Inside a Psychopath’s Brain: The Sentencing Debate is available here and Part 3: Can Your Genes Make You Murder? is available here
Helen Neville on Experiential, Genetic and Epigenetic Effects on Human Neurocognitive Development Recent advances in neuroscience have effectively put an end to the “nature or nurture” debate. Instead, the focus of discussion has switched to mechanisms and brain-based interventions — in what ways are neural circuits changed by experience? When is the brain most receptive to education and learning? And what effects does high versus low socioeconomic status (SES) have on the development of neurocognition? Helen Neville addresses these questions in her 2013 APS William James Fellow Award Address. Rums 50 minutes and 13 seconds.
NPR: Radio Diaries The NPR project Radio Diaries encourages teenagers, seniors, prison inmates and others whose voices are rarely heard to document their lives for public radio. Their stories are often powerful, surprising, intimate, and timeless, illustrating many aspects of the self, including self-concept, self-esteem, and social identity.
Narcissus-Caravaggio (1594-96) edited by Caravaggio – scan. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
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Person Centered Therapy The Australian Institute of Professional Counselors put together this brief film to illustrate what counseling is all about. As the client and the counselor interact, subtitles appear on the screen noting when the counselor is showing empathy and unconditional positive regard. 5 minutes, 39 seconds.
Fritz Perls conducting Gestalt Therapy with Gloria From the classic film Three Approaches to Psychotherapy (1965), which featured the same woman Gloria experiencing psychotherapy with Carl Rogers, Fritz Perls, and Albert Ellis. This second part describes Gestalt therapy as practiced by Dr. Fritz Perls. (29 minutes, 30 seconds).
Fritz Perls Gestalt Segment Fritz Perls recites the Gestalt prayer. (Runs 8 minutes 16 seconds.)
Fritz Perls on Gestalt Therapy Fritz Perls speaks to students about Gestalt therapy, the self and spirit. (Runs 6 minutes 49 seconds.)
Fritz Perls: Spiritual Training Fritz Perls speaks about how to use your spiritual energy. (Runs 1 minute 18 seconds.)
Fritz Perls Treats People With Demons The video includes Fritz Perls treating a man with a psychosis and a women with grief from parent issues. (Runs 31 minutes, 29 seconds).
Fritz Perls Workshop Excerpt from a Fritz Perls workshop. (Runs 1 minute 37 seconds.)
The Personality Myth In America personality is often seen as destiny. Whether you’re a famous CEO like Steve Jobs or a serial criminal like Hannibal Lecter, most of us think that our position in life has a lot to do with our personality. This episode looks more closely at this belief. We start at a Court House where lines of people who are getting married describe the personality of the person with whom they are to be joined for life. Then travel to a prison in Ohio where a woman has struck up a work relationship with a prisoner who it turns out did something far worse than she imagined. Finally Lulu talks to a scientist to come up with a complete catalogue of all the things about us that actually do stay stable over the course of our lives. They look at everything from cells to memories until ultimately they come up with a list — but it’s a really short list. FromInvisibilia” from NPR”, June 24, 2016. Runs 57 minutes 27 seconds.
The Photographic Fascination With Twins Photographer Martin Schoeller capture these portraits of three sets of identical twins to illustrate a recent story in National Geographic: In Schoeller’s portraits, eyes are like an open book. His portraits are studies of the face’s physical topography, but also of our irrepressible emotions — how they translate to the twinkle of an eye or the wrinkle on a forehead.
Photo Gallery: A Thing or Two About Twins From the website: Photographer Jodi Cobb captures the interaction between twins — and how they can be both alike and different — in this photo gallery.
Photos of Identical Twins As Grown-Ups Show How Fate Takes Its Course Beijing-based photographer Gao Rongguo captured this series of photos of men and women — identical twins — over 50 years of age. These haunting images raises the question of how genetics and our experiences make us who we are.
Positive Psychology, Clinical Applications of Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Pocast; Show #65 December 07, 2006) Judy Saltzberg Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist who practices from a cognitive-behavioral perspective. A Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, she supervises therapists in training and has taught seminars in the University of Pennsylvania Resiliency program. She is interested in the application of positive psychology to clinical interventions.
Positive Psychology, Discovering Positive Psychology Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #61 November 20, 2006). For the past five years or so, Positive Psychology has been the next big thing in psychology. Dr. James Pawelski is currently the director of education at the University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center, which supports the University’s newest masters program, the Master of Applied Positive Psychology. Before going to Philadelphia to teach at Penn, Dr. Pawelski served as an assistant professor of human and organizational development and religious studies at Vanderbilt University. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy from Penn State University and B.S. in mathematics. Dr. Pawelski’s main interests lie in the application of Positive Psychology in academic, professional and personal settings.
Positive Psychology: What is Positive Psychology? An Animation According to Nick Standlea, of Positive Psychology Daily News: If you’ve ever struggled to explain positive psychology to a friend or colleague, you are ready to appreciate this short animation by Nick Standlea, a former research associate for Mike Csikszentmihalyi at the Quality of Life Research Center. It’s food for the eyes and ears. October 31, 2012. Runs 5 minutes.
Positive Reinforcement – The Big Bang Theory Sheldon uses chocolate to shape Penny’s behavior. Later, Sheldon and Leonard have a discussion of conditioning, which, despite some misuse of terms, may still spark discussion in your class.
Prenatal Testosterone and Finger Ratio Can you predict the winner of an athletic contest by looking at finger ratios? John Manning explains how finger length ratio reflect prenatal hormone exposure which is also related to athletic ability in this short video from the BBC program Secret of the Sexes (runs 6 minutes, 8 seconds).
Procrastination Cartoonist Lev Yilmaz describes how his stuff (doesn’t) gets done in this entertaining video Tales Of Mere Existence: Procrastination, to which many of us can relate.
Protecting Human Subjects Training The complete set of three videos are available from thee Health Resources and Services Administration.
Modules 1 and 2: Evolving Concern: Protection for Human Subjects (22 minutes) and The Belmont Report: Basic Ethical Principles and Their Application (28 minutes)
Module 3: Balancing Society’s Mandates: Criteria for Protocol Review (36 minutes)
Proposed Treatment To Fix Genetic Diseases Raises Ethical Issues NPR’s Morning Edition reports that The federal government is considering whether to allow scientists to take a controversial step: make changes in some of the genetic material in a woman’s egg that would be passed down through generations. From October 9, 2013. Listen to the full story and read the transcript here. Runs 5 minutes and 40 seconds.
Psych Elves Michael Britt, of the Psych Files Podcast, had the temerity to turn these three personality psychologists into Elves. Can you identify them?
Psychology’s Most Famous Elves Michael Britt, of The Psych Files podcast, did it again. He turned these 8 famous psychologists — among them Sigmund Freud and Anna Freud — into Elves (with a special guest appearance by Melanie Klein). Can you identify who they all are? (runs 2 minutes 1 second). Posted December, 2014.
Psychoanalysis From Both Sides of The Couch Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #144, March 24, 2008). In this episode, Dr. Dave talks with Fern W. Cohen, PhD, a psychoanalyst and psychotherapist in private practice in New York City, has long been committed to conveying in everyday language what the psychoanalytic process is about and how it works. She is the author of the 2007 book, From Both Sides of The Couch: Reflections of A Psychoanalyst, Daughter, Tennis Player, and Other Selves.
Psychoanalytic Perspective: Bless You Hawkeye Jill Payne, George Mason University via the PsychTeach discussion list, suggested that the episode of the TV series M*A*S*H titled “Bless You Hawkeye” (1981) “nicely illustrates some Freudian constructs. The tone of the episode is serious–not derisive–and emotional as well.” In this episode (Season 9, Episode 17), Hawkeye develops a sneeze, which cannot be explained by an allergy or other medical condition. Eventually, the psychiatrist, recurring character Sidney Freedman, is brought in to talk to him and they discover the root of his problem lies in an event from childhood triggered by a specific smell. The episode illustrates Freudian concepts such as reaction formation, psychosomatic symptoms, importance of childhood memories, slips of the tongue, repressed memory, stream of consciousness, and talk therapy. The entire episode runs about 24 minutes, but you could cut the first two scenes (before the Psychiatrist interviews Hawkeye) and the final scene (the Poker game) if time is an issue. If the link above does not work for you, try searching for it elsewhere on the Internet. See a synopsis of the episode here.
Psychoanalyzing George W. Bush. Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast; Show #111, September 16th, 2007). In this episode, Dr. Dave talks with Justin A. Frank, M.D., a Washington, D.C. based psychoanalyst and author of the book, Bush On The Couch: Inside The Mind Of The President. Frank analyzes Bush the man, more human than we realize, and concludes that Bush is “seriously flawed” psychologically and questions whether he should be president.
Psychology Cartoons Spice up your lectures with one of these classic single-panel cartoons of Sydney Harris. In this online collection of science cartoons you will find references to Freud, Rorschach, brain dominance, skinner, existentialism, and more.
The Psychology of Doing Good. Shrink Rap Radio: A Psychology talk and Interview Show (Podcast). In this Podcast (show #105) Dr. Dave, a.k.a. David Van Nuys, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Sonoma State University, interviews Stephen Post lead author of the 2007 book Why Good Things Happen to Good People: The Exciting New Research That Proves The Link Between Doing Good and Living A Longer, Healthier, Happier Life. Dr. Post has written seven scholarly books on unselfish love and giving, and is the editor of eight other books. He is Professor of Bioethics & Family Medicine in the School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University. He is also President of the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love, Altruism, Compassion, and Service, which was founded in 2001 with a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation. He has published over 140 articles in peer-reviewed journals representing the sciences, religion, and humanities. Dr. Post received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Board of the Alzheimer’s Association.
Psychology Apps for the iPad/iPhone/iPod Michael Brit, former professor of psychology, produces a podcast about psychology called The Psych Files. In this episode (Episode 121) he shows — using his iPad — the 10 apps he considers to be the best for psychology, including credible therapy apps, mind mapping tools, relaxation apps, games based on Gestalt principles, and 3-D brain imaging apps.
Psychology Pictures’ Photostream on Flickr This Flickr photostream features graphics of thought-provoking psychology-related quotes printed over striking photos. The result are some very neat images that will liven up a slide presentation, a web site, or even your office door. The site also features photos of famous psychologists.
The Power of Introverts In February 2012, Susan Cain gave this moving TED talk on the power of introverts (from the website): In a culture where being social and outgoing are prized above all else, it can be difficult, even shameful, to be an introvert. But, as Susan Cain argues in this passionate talk, introverts bring extraordinary talents and abilities to the world, and should be encouraged and celebrated. (runs 19 minutes, 4 seconds).
FREUD’S SOFA von ROBERT HUFFSTUTTER – https://www.flickr.com/photos/huffstutterrobertl/6888951554/in/photolist-buKFhN-bHF4bn-bJi1KD. Lizenziert unter CC BY 2.0 über Wikimedia Commons.
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Quiet: The Power of Introverts Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts appeared recently on the radio program Radio Times with host Marty Moss-Coane. From the website: In a world that celebrates the loudest, most outlandish, extroverted personalities, a new book makes the case for quieter types – those who shy away from the limelight and who like to spend time alone. Writer Susan Cain says there are advantages to being an introvert, including being a reflective thinker and a good listener. Cain also highlights some well-known introverts like Mother Theresa, Rosa Parks, Joe DiMaggio, Bill Gates and Gandhi, who famously said, In a gentle way you can shake the world. She tells Marty about the science behind introversion and the biases that shy people face. Runs 49 minutes, 6 seconds, including calls from listeners.
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Dr. Matthew Fox: The Stanford Lectures: An Immersion in Creation Spirituality What is the Creation Spirituality lineage and Why does it strike fear in the hearts of Inquisitors and Fundamentalists? What does it mean to be Spiritual and adult in the 21st century? What is the future of spirituality, religion and interfaith in our time? Fox answers these questions is a series of videos, using the theories of Otto Rank, the youngest and the most brilliant of Freud’s students. (9 minutes, 57 seconds)
Otto Rank on Art. Dr. Matthew Fox: The Stanford Lectures: An Immersion in Creation Spirituality What is the Creation Spirituality lineage and Why does it strike fear in the hearts of Inquisitors and Fundamentalists? What does it mean to be Spiritual and adult in the 21st century? What is the future of spirituality, religion and interfaith in our time? Fox answers these questions is a series of videos, using the theories of Otto Rank, the youngest and the most brilliant of Freud’s students. (6 minutes, 50 seconds)
Reliability — The Foundation of Any Good Personality Test Michael Brit, former professor of psychology, broadcasts a podcast about psychology called The Psych Files. In this video episode (Episode 168), he describes the concept of reliability in a concrete and enjoyable way through the classic, but invalid, Ice Cream Personality Test, the Distorted Tunes Test of musical perception, and a test of Achievement Motivation (runs 12 minutes, 6 seconds).
Research Methods The complete updated Discovering Psychology series hosted by Philip Zimbardo is available online for streaming in the classroom or for outside of class viewing as well as in DVD format. From the website: This program [Program 2: Understanding Research] examines the scientific method and the ways in which data are collected and analyzed — in the lab and in the field — with an emphasis on sharpening critical thinking in the interpretation of research findings. With Dr. Christina Maslach of the University of California, Berkeley, and Dr. Daryl Bem of Cornell University. Updated. 30 minutes.
Research Methods and Statistics Concept Maps Alexis Grosofsky, Beloit College, created these concept maps of topics typically covered in undergraduate methods and statistics courses. These maps will help students organize material and see the bigger picture of how these concepts relate to each other. Each of these 11 maps could be used as an introduction, summary, or quick refresher (Opens in PDF format).
APA Module on Research Methods, Measurement, and Statistics Stephen Chew presents on topics such as research methods and measurements used to study behavior and mental processes, ethical issues in research with human and nonhuman animals, and basic concepts in data analysis. Runs 60 minutes.
Resilience: Does Teaching Kids to Get Gritty Help Them Get Ahead? Summarizes the research by Angela Duckworth and describes how school are trying to teach students “grit” i.e., that persistence, determination and resilience are the keys to success in school and beyond. Tovia Smith visits a public school and Brookly and reports how they have put Duckworth’s ideas into action. From NPR’s “Morning Edition”, March 17, 2014. Includes links to a a Grit scale and the mindset test of Carol Dweck. Part 1 Runs 7 minutes, 48 seconds; Part 2 runs 7 minutes, 43 seconds.
Resilience: Motorcyclist Thrown After Crash, Walks Away “I can either land on my feet or my head right now” is what was going through the mind of 24 year old Michael Smith as he was hit by a car while riding his motorcycle through an intersection in Florida. Amazingly, he flips head-over-heels, lands on his feet, and walks away. Runs 51 seconds.
Resilience: The Nick Vujicic Story Nick Vujicic was born in 1982 without arms or legs but with the strength of character and spirit to overcome these challenges: By the age of 19 Nick started to fulfill his dream of being able to encourage other people and bring them hope, through motivational speaking and telling his story. [Nick] found the purpose of [his] existence, and also the purpose of [his] circumstance. Nick wholeheartedly believes that there is a purpose in each of the struggles we encounter in our lives and that our attitude towards those struggles that can be the single most effective factor in overcoming them. A 4-minute and 11-second film about him featuring excerpts from some of his talks to young people is available here.
The Science of Compassion and Resilience Psychologist David DeSteno examines the science of compassion and resilience exploring new ideas for leveraging the mechanisms of the mind that enable them according to Maria Popova for Brain Pickings, October 22, 2012. Runs 18 minutes, 28 seconds.
Carl Rogers Conducting Client-Centered Therapy With Gloria Carl Rogers doing psychotherapy from the classic film Three Approaches to Psychotherapy (1965) in which Carl Rogers, Fritz Perls, and Albert Ellis each give a demonstration of their approach to therapy with the real client Gloria. The entire section on Rogers is presented here in 5 parts (total runs about 30 minutes).
Rogers, Carl: A Daughter’s Tribute This CD-ROM, available for purchase, includes excerpts from Roger’s books, over 120 photographs, bibliography, and classic video images of Rogers.
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See-Through Brains Clarify Connections In what has been called one of the most important advances for doing neuroanatomy in decades scientists have found a way to reconstruct three-dimensional data from thin slices to create a transparent view of parts of the brain revealing the brain’s neuronal communication networks. Read about the technique here and see a video of the spectacular images it created of the brains of mice (runs 4 minutes, 17 seconds).
The Self The complete updated Discovering Psychology series hosted by Philip Zimbardo is available online for streaming in the classroom or for outside of class viewing as well as in DVD format. From the website:Psychologists systematically study the origins of self-identity and self-esteem, the social determinants of self-conceptions, and the emotional and motivational consequences of beliefs about oneself. This program[Program 15: The Self] explores their methods of discovery. With Dr. Hazel Markus of Stanford University and Dr. Teresa Amabile of Harvard University. Updated. 30 minutes.
SDT: Promoting Motivation, Health, and Excellence: Ed Deci at TEDxFlourCity Ed Deci, professor of psychology at University of Rochester and Co-Founder of Self-Determination Theory, describes two common forms of motivation; autonomous and controlled. He discusses the different results of each form and the implications for aspects of our lives; especially work and relationships in this TED talk from June, 2012. (runs 14 minutes, 6 seconds).
Ed Deci on Self-Determination Theory Ed Deci presents an overview of self-determination theory as part of Social PsyClips, a repository of short, visually appealing HD video documentaries of classic and contemporary social psychological theories for teaching purposes (runs 25 minutes 36 seconds).
Ed Deci on Self-Determination Theory in Life’s Domains Ed Deci describes the implications of self-determination theory in virtual worlds, health, education, and other life domains as part of Social PsyClips, a repository of short, visually appealing HD video documentaries of classic and contemporary social psychological theories for teaching purposes (runs 11 minutes 25 seconds).
What Self-Determination Means to Me. Promoting the principles of self-determination for people with disabilities and those who support them is the Self-Determination for Texas project. These principles include Freedom, Authority, Support, Responsibility and Confirmation. In this video, Ricky Broussard, who has been in institutional care for most of his life, describes what self-determination means to him: The right to have control over decision making power to live where he wants, have family and friends to visit or spend the night, choose what he wants to eat and hire and fire the people that work with him (from November 2, 2004, runs 3 minutes, 28 seconds).
Self-Esteem: The Incredibles vs. American Idol Michael Brit, former professor of psychology, has a podcast about psychology called The Psych Files. In an earlier episode (Episode 9) he asked the question: How Do You Really Raise Self-Esteem? He contrasts the messages of The Incredibles, where everybody is special to American Idol, where some people are talented and others are not, and uses psychological research to sort out which method is better for increasing self-esteem.
Self-Monitoring: What’s the Best Personality to Be a Waiter? What kind of personality do you need to be a good waiter/waitress? Michael Brit, former professor of psychology, broadcasts a podcast about psychology calledThe Psych Files. In this episode (Episode 82) he explores the answer as he discusses the Self-Monitoring personality. His webpage includes good background references, examples of validity and reliability, and links to additional web resources. (originally released December 28, 2008).
Self: Psychologists Put the ‘Selfie’ On the Couch Psychologists Lisa Obran and Andrew Przybylski explore both the positive (e.g.,self exploration and identity experimentation in the service of relatedness needs and identity formation) and negative (e.g., indulg[ing] in a narcissistic activity) of selfies in this video for the #BBCtrending program. (runs 1 minute, 29 seconds).
Self-Recognition: Dolphins In The Mirror. Scientist Diana Reiss at the Baltimore Aquarium illustrate the intelligence — and self-recognition behavior — of dolphins in this brief documentary explaining the work of Reiss and her colleagues with dolphins and elephants (runs 5 minutes, 8 seconds).
Self-Recognition in Dolphins. Three very brief movies showing dolphins engaging in self-directed behavior after mirror exposure and markings. From Diana Reiss and Lori Marino (2000). Mirror self-recognition in the bottlenose dolphin: A case of cognitive convergence. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 98(10), 5937-5942.
Self-Recognition in Elephants. Three very brief movies showing Patty, Maxine, and Happy, three elephants, engaging in self-directed behavior after mirror exposure and markings. From Joshua M. Plotnik, Frans B. M. de Waal and Diana Reiss (2006) Self-recognition in an Asian elephant. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103(45), 17053-17057.
Self-Regulation: Video Talk by Roy Baumeister Roy Baumeister presents this talk to the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, an organization committed to finding innovative practical solutions to today’s social challenges, explaining why willpower and self-control is one of the most important aspects of individual and societal wellbeing (runs 15 minutes and 50 seconds).
Mirror baby. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Self: The Remarkable Human Self According to Roy Baumeister in his Award Address delivered at the 25th APS Annual Convention in Washington, DC, the self is not part of the human anatomy, but rather a powerful interface between our animal bodies and the complex cultural systems in which we live. Without the concept of self … scientific analysis of social and economic processes would be all but impossible. You can read a summary of his talk or watch a video of the entire talk (48 minutes and 24 seconds) here. Posted January 2014.
Martin Seligman TED talk: Why is Psychology Good? Martin Seligman talks about psychology — as a field of study and as it works one-on-one with each patient and each practitioner. As it moves beyond a focus on disease, what can modern psychology help us to become? Provides a good overview of positive psychology including happiness, positive emotion, the good life, flow, meaning, and human strengths. From the February 2004 conference themed The Pursuit of Happiness. (Duration: 23 minutes 41 seconds).
Sensation Seeking: An Overview The Big Think blog features this interview with Marvin Zuckerman on sensation seeking (runs 23 minutes, 47 seconds). The whole interview is also broken out into 6 smaller excerpts on specific topics running 3-5 minutes each. These include the genetic basis of risk-seeking, why men drive fast and take chances, risk-seeking and creativity, the psychology of horror films, the anatomy of torture and more.
Sensation Seeking Dr. Ken Carter This web page of Clinical psychologist, speaker, and science writer Ken Carter contains many background resources on sensation seeking including audio and videos describing what sensation is and isn’t, links to a sensation seeking quiz, world heat maps of sensation seeing, press releases and more.
Sensation Seeking and Extreme Sports Psychology teacher Michael Britt created an episode for his podcast called The Psych Files which discusses the connection between monoamine oxidase and sensation seeking in an episode entitled, “The Psychology of Extreme Sports.” The episode makes use of much of the information found here on Personality Pedagogy and it includes a brief animation showing how neurotransmitters and Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors work.
Sensation Seeking Activity? The Giant Drop at Dreamland, an Australian amusement park, is the tallest free-falling ride in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Is this an activity you would enjoy?
Sensation Seeking: Can You Spot the High Sensation Seeker? Check out this amateur video of the ride down the Giant Drop at Australia’s Dreamworld amusement park park, reputed to be the world’s largest free fall ride in the world. Stay tuned to the very end, and see one guy — the one holding the camera — obviously thrilled, while the guy next to him is showing abject terror!
Seven Billion: Are You Typical? In the year 2011, the worldwide population will reach 7 billion people. As part of their year-long series on world population, National Geographic Magazine put together this 2 minute, 55 second video identifying the typical person and inspiring us all to think about how our choices affect others on the planet.
Sex and Gender The complete updated Discovering Psychology series hosted by Philip Zimbardo is available online for streaming in the classroom or for outside of class viewing as well as in DVD format. From the website: This program [Program 17] explores the ways in which males and females are similar and different, and how gender roles reflect social values and psychological knowledge. With Dr. Michael Meaney of McGillUniversity and Dr. Eleanor Maccoby of Stanford University. 30 minutes.
Sex and Gender: Who Was David Reimer? In 1967, an anonymous baby boy was turned into a girl by doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital. For 25 years, the case of John/Joan was called a medical triumph — proof that a child’s gender identity could be changed — and thousands of “sex reassignments” were performed based on this example. But the case was a failure, the truth never reported. Now the man who grew up as a girl tells the story of his life, and a medical controversy erupts. See also a transcript of the NOVA program Sex: Unknown from October 30, 2001 and the article Being Brenda, and a story about David’s suicide.
Sex Differences: A time capsule from 1964 The 1964 film, Psychological Differences Between the Sexes, claims that innate psychological and emotional differences between the sexes leads to problems relationship and strives to educate young people to avoid these problems. But according to psychological research in the 50 years or more since this film was produced are these truly sex differences or merely stereotypes? This obviously dated film is sure to spark discussion on these and related issues.
Sexist Vintage Ads The Huffington Post presents this slide show of 18 cringe-worthy vintage ads targeting married couples. A good way to start out a discussion of gender differences by getting students to think about what people once believed men and women to be like and discussing the evidence (or lack thereof) for some of these out-dated images.
Sexual Identity, Sexual Orientation, and Sexual Behavior The Science of Relationships blog, written by psychologists, presents this short primer on the differences between the three in the spirit that understanding will lead to less hate. Posted October 21, 2012, runs 3 minutes, 49 seconds.
Sexual Orientation and Twin Research This story and video from the CBS news program 60 Minutes takes a look at the impact of genetics on sexual orientation.
Siblings Share Genes, But Rarely Personalities Excellent summary of the surprising finding that while siblings growing up in the same family are more similar than two kids picked at random, they are “not much more” similar, according to Robert Plomin. Describes the three current explanations behind this finding: The principle of divergence, non-shared environment, and exaggeration. Story by Alix Spiegel for NPR, November 22, 2010. Also available in audio (8 minutes, 48 seconds).
Should Every Kid Get a Trophy Just for Participating? SportzEdge.com presents this discussion by their commentators on whether children ought to get a trophy just for participating. Presents some interesting ideas to get your students thinking. (Runs 7 minutes, 11 seconds).
Six Years of Noah Noah K., a 26 years old professional photographer, started taking a self-portrait every day when he was 19 years old. Now 6 years later he is still at it. He set the images to music and posted the photo montage online for all to see how he has changed over the years (click here for more information about Noah). For other interesting time photography see 25 years of the Brown Sisters, 25 years of the Golberg Family.
B. F. Skinner at the APA Annual Convention 1990 Behavioral psychologist Dr. B. F. Skinner presented this keynote address at the American Psychological Association’s 1990 Annual Convention. In Dr. Skinner’s last public appearance, he expresses his belief that the proper role for psychological science is the analysis of behavior. He speaks about the path psychology has followed over the years, from early introspection methods to three kinds of variation and selection, including natural selection, the evolution of operant conditioning, and the evolution of culture. August 10, 1990. (in English with Spanish subtitles). Runs 20:56.
Skinner’s Teaching Machine of the Future Skinner himself explains why studying by way of a teaching machine is often dramatically effective in this classic black and white film clip (runs 4 minutes, 19 seconds; contains Spanish subtitles).
Skinner on Compassionate Behavior Michael Britt of The Psych Files podcast presents this audio clip of B.F. Skinner on compassion: Listen to B. F. Skinner as he explains how he believes we can get people to be more compassionate as they deal with old people, prisoners, psychiatric patients and the developmentally delayed (which in his day were referred to commonly as “retardates”). Note that he is more in favor of rewarding positive behavior than in implementing “aversive controls” also note that he speaks of how important knowledge is in treating people with these needs (runs 2 minutes, 31 seconds).
Skinner on Learning to Love Reading Michael Britt of The Psych Files podcast presents this audio clip of B. F. Skinner talking about reading In another surprisingly “humanistic” interview with B.F. Skinner he discusses what he thinks we can do to make learning to read fun. “Fun”? and “Skinner”? Yup. There are more sides to Skinner than we sometimes think about after we’ve had only a basic course in psychology (runs 3 minutes and 31 seconds).
Skinner on Learning to Play Music Michael Britt of The Psych Files podcast presents this audio clip of B.F. Skinner talking about learning to play music. As Britt explains, Skinner has, unfortunately, suffered from a bad reputation. Listen to how he explains his own experiences learning to play the piano and his suggestions for how children might come to love playing music if we introduce it into their lives correctly. If you didn’t know it was his voice you probably wouldn’t guess this was him speaking (runs 1 minute, 40 seconds).
Skinner on Reinforcement An in-depth view of how Skinner trained pigeons to read in this classic film clip. Includes a discussion of schedules of reinforcement, gambling, and his controversial views on free will (runs 3 minutes, 58 seconds).
SPARROW: Sound and Picture Archives for Research on Women This website preserves and shares oral history, photograph images, videos, and more about the lives of women in India.
Nova: Stem Cell Breakthrough. Three separate teams overcome a biomedical hurdle—creating stem cells without the use of human embryos. Learn about their research here and much more about stem cells including related science news, links and books, transcript, and a teacher’s guide The program, 13 minutes and 39 seconds long, originally aired on PBS July 23, 2008 and is available in closed captioning. Click through to the teacher’s guide for a shortened version 5 minutes and 16 seconds long.
Secure, Insecure, Avoidant & Ambivalent Attachment in Mothers & Babies This brief video clip features the analysis and voice-over of Everett Waters, as three mothers and babies react to the strange situation by showing patterns of secure, avoidant, or ambivalent/resistant attachment. Runs 3 minutes, 39 seconds.
Stacked (Forced) Ranking From Michael Britt at The Psych Files: Here’s a sound byte from an episode of TWIT (This Week in Technology: twit.tv/twit) podcast in which Leo Laporte and John Dvorak discuss the negative effects of a performance appraisal system often called Stacked or Forced ranking. Psychologists refer to scales like this as ordinal scales. From July 15, 2012, show #362. (This audio clip runs 1 minute, 55 seconds).
The Strange Situation – Mary Ainsworth This brief video clip illustrates the Strange Situation used to assess attachment using a 14-month old girl who shows secure attachment with her mother. Runs 3 minutes, 15 seconds.
Strange Situation Separation and reunion of a securely attached infant and his father in the strange situation. (53 seconds)
Strange Situation Presents video of a mother and secure child going through Ainsworth’s Strange Situation. A voice over explains each part of the Strange Situation protocol, which the baby reacts (runs 5 minutes and 24 seconds).
Coincidence or Synchronicity: You be the Judge Michael Brit, former professor of psychology, broadcasts a podcast about psychology called The Psych Files. Have you heard that president Abraham Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy and president John F. Kennedy had a secretary named Lincoln? In this episode [Episode 70] of The Psych Files we explore strange coincidences like this one and we also examine Carl Jung’s concept of Synchronicity. Does it mean that everything happens for a reason – or is the idea more complex than that? Let’s find out. Oh and by the way – turns out Lincoln never had a secretary named Kennedy. Don’t believe me? Find out more in this episode of The Psych Files.
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Testing and Intelligence The complete updated Discovering Psychology series hosted by Philip Zimbardo is available online for streaming in the classroom or for outside of class viewing as well as in DVD format. From the website: This program [Program 16: Testing and Intelligence] peers into the field of psychological assessment — the efforts of psychologists and other professionals to assign values to different abilities, behaviors, and personalities. With Dr. Claude Steele of Stanford University and Dr. Robert Sternberg of Yale University. Updated. 30 minutes.
This is Psychology The American Psychological Association presents this series of brief videos illustrating how psychological research can be applied to a broad range of issues and challenges such as bullying, children’s mental health, and other issues of concern to the general public.
The Times and Troubles of the Scientific Method Science is working tirelessly night and day to disprove its own theories about how the universe works (or at least, that’s what science thinks it’s doing). Hank tells us a quick history of how we came to create and adopt the scientific method and then gives us a vision of the future of science (hint: it involves a lot more computers and a lot less pipetting). Posted by SciShow, April 29, 2013. (runs 11 minutes, 8 seconds)
Transference, Countertransference, and Other Guidelines for Psychotherapy Michael Brit, former professor of psychology, produces a podcast about psychology called The Psych Files. In this episode (Episode 12) hediscuss[es] the importance of boundaries and guidelines set forth by Robert Langs, MD regarding how to know when your relationship with your therapist is healthy – and when it is not. (runs 34 minutes, and 8 seconds).
Transgenderism in Children: Two Families Grapple with Sons’ Gender Preferences: Psychologists Take Radically Different Approaches in Therapy. Transgenderism in Teens: Parents Consider Treatment to Delay Son’s Puberty: New Therapy Would Buy Time to Resolve Gender Crisis. In May 2008 NPR reporter Alix Spiegel did a sensitive two-part series on transgenderism. Part I considers whether transgenderism is “a pathology due to a dysfunctional environment” or a just a “moral variant of human behavior” (22 minutes 45 seconds). In Part II one family struggles with what to do with their transgendered daughter as she is about to go through puberty (20 minutes 12 seconds).
Transsexuals: Bad Questions to Ask a Transsexual The background information for this sarcastic video starts After years of teeth-grindingly ignorant and insulting questions, Calpernia Addams finally snaps and shares her list of Bad Questions which you should never ask a transsexual. These are all real questions from real life! The video ends with the disclaimer If you [are] offended by this
it means you’re most likely someone who thinks these questions are Ok to ask…Everyone has curiosity about things they don’t understand, the key is knowing what and when to ask. (14 minutes, 20 seconds). This video is sure to get your students asking questions and challenging their assumptions.
Alfred Binet by Unknown – http://ihm.nlm.nih.gov/images/B03049, 
via en:Image:Alfbinet.jpg. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
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The United States of Mind Research by Rentfrow and colleagues on the geography of personality suggests that there are regional clusters of personality traits. This summary of their (2008) research from the journalPerspectives on Psychological Science contains a link to an interactive map of states’ personality profiles with details on each state’s rankings on each of the five factors. From the Wall Street Journal, September 23, 2008.
Using OK Cupid to Teach Research Methods Co-founder Christian Rudder talks about how OK Cupid collects and uses data. Their methods raise important questions about research including: What are different kinds of social science data? How can/should we manipulate respondents to get it? What does it look like? How can it be used to answer questions? Or, how can we understand the important difference between having the data and doing an interpretation of it? Runs 5 minutes, 13 seconds.
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Validity — How Can You Tell a Good Test From a Bad One? Michael Brit, former professor of psychology, broadcasts a podcast about psychology called The Psych Files. In this video episode (Episode 169), he describes the concept of validity in a concrete and enjoyable way through the classic, but invalid, Ice Cream Personality Test, the Distorted Tunes Test of musical perception, and others. 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 (runs 14 minutes, 40 seconds).
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The Weird Psychological Reason Why Big Bonuses Can Demotivate Workers Given a choice between solving puzzles for free or for pay — which would you pick? Based on Self-Determination Theory the answer may surprise you. Read about Autonomy and Competence here along with a third factor, Purpose, added by Daniel Pink. From Business Insider, April 7, 2015. You can hear Daniel Pink’s TED talk on the difference between incentivizing and intrinsic motivation here too (runs 18 minutes, 36 seconds).
Well-Being: Claremont Graduate University Online Video Library. Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA, maintains an online video library of selected talks and panel discussions at the University. How can educators best support student well-being? Yost Hammer, Elizabeth (Xavier University of Louisiana), moderator, Anthony Antonio (Stanford University), Tracy McLaughlin-Volpe (Emerson College). Panel discussion from the 2009 Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology, Enhancing Teaching and Learning: Lessons from Social Psychology. March 28, 2009. 45 minutes.
What Autonomy Means to Me. Promoting the principles of self-determination for people with disabilities and those who support them is the Self-Determination for Texas project. These principles include Freedom, Authority, Support, Responsibility and Confirmation. In this video, Ricky Broussard, who has been in institutional care for most of his life, describes what self-determination means to him: The right to have control over decision making power to live where he wants, have family and friends to visit or spend the night, choose what he wants to eat and hire and fire the people that work with him (2007). The entire video runs 8 minutes, 54 seconds. Parts that illustrate the importance of autonomy occur at 2:06, 2:49, 4:50, and 6:48. (Note that you can start in the middle of a video on You Tube by adding #t=2m06s to the end of a URL. The numbers before the m specify the exact minute [2 in this example] and the numbers before the s specify the exact seconds [06 in this example] where you wish to start.)
What Happens When We Laugh? According to neuroscientist Sophie Scott in this TED talk, It has to do with breathing…as well as emotions, and the voice. Studying the mechanisms of laughter, she discovered it’s a social, universal expression not just in humans but even chimpanzees and rats. Brain scans revealed the areas of the brain active during laughter (interestingly, similar to yawning, another socially contagious expression). Her lab also examined polite, posed laughter vs. uncontrollable mirth, and revealed how we tell the difference. (runs 13 minutes and 27 seconds).
What Pushes Us To Work Hard — Even When We Don’t Have To? Behavioral economist Dan Ariely says we work hard not because we have to, but because we want to. He examines the intrinsic values we need to feel motivated to work in this TED talk from NPR, October 2, 2015. (runs 14 minutes and 52 seconds)
What was B.F. Skinner Really Like? According to Michael Britt of The Psych Files podcast, Would you be surprised to learn that B.F. Skinner was a very likable guy and that you may actually be very much in agreement with his ideas? Many people who study psychology have a negative impression of Skinner. Well, I’m about to challenge those impressions by presenting a side of Skinner you probably haven’t been exposed to. In these sound bytes you’ll hear his ideas about learning to play music, about discovery, having fun and becoming the most that you can be. From episode 191 posted March 11, 2013. (runs 32 minutes, 35 seconds).
When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink? According to Smithsonian.com writer Jeanne Maglaty, every generation brings a new definition of masculinity and femininity that manifests itself in children’s dress. Read about the vicissitudes of gender-appropriate clothing and color and check out the fascinating slide show of examples. Originally posted April 8, 2011.
What is it that you desire most? This short video is actually an advertisement for a Thai Insurance Company. In it, a man is depicted going through his day where things keep going wrong and yet he cheerfully continues to help people around him: “What does he get in return for doing this every day? He gets nothing. He won’t be richer. He won’t appear on TV. Still anonymous. And not a bit more famous. What he does receive are emotions. He witness happiness. Reaches a deeper understanding. Feels the love. Receives what money can’t buy and a world made more beautiful.” Published on April 5, 2014. Runs 3 minutes, 5 seconds.
What Makes Us Feel Good About Our Work? What motivates us to work? Contrary to conventional wisdom, it isn’t just money. But it’s not exactly joy either. It seems that most of us thrive by making constant progress and feeling a sense of purpose. Behavioral economist Dan Ariely presents two eye-opening experiments that reveal our unexpected and nuanced attitudes toward meaning in our work This TEDx talk was Posted April 10, 2013 and runs 20 minutes, 27 seconds.
Where the Hell is Matt Dancing? Matt, a 31-year old self-proclaimed deadbeat from Connecticut, was once told by his friend while traveling in Hanoi Hey, why don’t you stand over there and do that dance. I’ll record it. The rest is, as they say, Internet history. In 2005, 2006 and 2008 Matt traveled around the world dancing and spreading joy. The brief video montages from his travels are sure to make you smile even as they introduce cultural differences (e.g. clothing, housing) and cultural universals (e.g. dancing, smiling, music, positive emotions, and camaraderie) to your students. Update: In his newest (2012), and possibly most inspirational video yet, Matt shares dances with people in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, the Gaza Strip, North Korean, and strife-ridden Syria (with their faces blurred for their own safety).
Who Am I? Your Brain The Science Museum of National Museum of Science and Industry (NMSI), London, UK sponsors an extensive website. Check out their interactive online exhibit on Who Am I? featuring videos, pictures, handouts, and information on understanding your body, your brain, and your genes. This page on Your Brain answers the questions how can illness affect the brain, what happens when you are asleep, how do drugs affect the brain, what are emotions, and others.
Who Am I? Your Genes The Science Museum of National Museum of Science and Industry (NMSI), London, UK sponsors an extensive website. Check out their interactive online exhibit on Who Am I? featuring videos, pictures, handouts, and information on understanding your body, your brain, and your genes. This page on Your Genes answers the questions where did your genes come from, what was the Human Genome project, how do genes affect your health, and others.
Who’s Gay On TV? Dads, Journalists, Investigators, And Footmen Presents an interesting account of the various portrayals of gays and lesbians found on TV today. Though the number of gays and lesbians has increased in recent years, for some, the portrayals may not be as realistic as they could be. Published January 3, 2013. (also available in audio running 7 minutes, 45 seconds).
Why Students Love Evolutionary Psychology Why Students Love Evolutionary Psychology… and How to Teach It,by David Buss. This is one of 7 videos from the APA Education Directorate’s series Videos for Psychology Teachers. The videos are recordings of sessions from the 2012 APA Convention in Orlando, Fla. This lecture discusses evolutionary psychology — such topics as sexual selection, evolved psychological mechanisms and ultimate and proximate causation — and tools for teaching evolutionary psychology in the classroom. Posted November, 2012. (runs 45 minutes).
Why We Dream The BBC produced this video documentary on dreams: People who study dreaming to find out why we dream have found several potential answers: they help keep us asleep, they contribute to good mental health, and they help us find answers to questions we seek. But what do they mean, and can we control them? This excellent documentary interviews scientists, dreamers, and people with sleep and dream disorders to find out more about this always fascinating subject. (Runs 58 minutes and 24 seconds).
WingClips: Movie Clips that Illustrate and Inspire Inspirational movie clips for use in school, church, or other organization. The sight is organized by movie title, scripture, category, theme, and is searchable. Clips can be streamed (but are imprinted with a watermark) or can be downloaded. Most are free; some are available for a small fee.
World’s Quickest Personality Test Are you imaginative, analytical, or suspicious? Richard Wiseman describes how to assess your personality via this quick measure. A fun way to introduce personality testing and the importance of validity to your students. (runs 1 minute, 26 seconds).
Wounded Warriors Softball Team NBC Nightly News did this feature story on the inspirational Wounded Warriors softball team. These veteran service members play on an amputee softball team, made up entirely of players who have lost limbs. They take on able-bodied teams for camaraderie and the love of good hard competition. Aired September 5, 2011 (Runs 3 minutes and 28 seconds).
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You Can’t See It, But You’ll be a Different Person in 10 Years No matter how old people are, they seem to believe that who they are today is essentially who they’ll be tomorrow. according to the End of History Illusion. According to researcher Daniel Gilbert, Life is a process of growing and changing, and what our results suggest is that growth and change really never stops…despite the fact that at every age from 18 to 68, we think it’s pretty much come to a close. You can listen to the original segment and comment by Gilbert here, on the NPR website (runs 3 minutes, 58 seconds) or read a more in-depth summary here.
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A very elderly person carrying an infant in Rio de Janeiro (1981). United Nations photo used under the Creative Commons.