In this episode of The Psych Files, host Michael Britt explores three fascinating new psychology studies. First, research found that making hospital alarms more musical could help prevent dangerous mistakes caused by alarm fatigue. Next, studies on cats and dogs suggest they likely dream about their waking experiences, just like humans do. The brain activity […] The post My 3 Favorite Psych Articles This Week – March 8, 2024 first appeared on The Psych Files ..read more

Part 2: How Do Actors Memorize All Those Lines? Here is part 2 of my interview with author and actor Jared Kelner. In this episode he tells how he uses the DSM (Diagnotic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) in his work as an actor. We also talk a little more about his use of […] The post Part 2: How Do Actors Memorize All Those Lines? first appeared on The Psych Files ..read more

You have no doubt asked yourself this question after watching a play: “How did those actors memorize all those lines?”. In previous episodes of The Psych Files I have discussed a few of the techniques actors use to do this, but on this episode I have an interview with a professional actor, Jared Kelner, who […] The post How Do Actors Memorize All Those Lines? first appeared on The Psych Files ..read more

Branching Scenarios: Easily Create an Online Experiment Teachers like to invigorate their online class by incorporating interactive experiences and in the past I’ve used tools such as Google Sites and Wix. Here’s another tool that I think may be the easiest one of them all. It’s called ThingLink. This easy to use tool has a […] The post Branching Scenarios: Easily Create an Online Experiment first appeared on The Psych Files ..read more

This article is from my Linkedin feed The post AI: The Death of Creativity? first appeared on The Psych Files ..read more

Another of my episodes on mnemonic techniques you can use for just about any purpose. I recently discovered a pegword system in a great book called, “Line?”. It’s a book for actors that was written by a memory expert like myself, Jared Kelner. Check out his book on Amazon. In this episode I demonstrate how […] The post How Actors Use the “Number-Shape” Mnemonic Technique first appeared on The Psych Files ..read more

For years, the Stanford Prison Study has been used to tout the idea that putting any individual in a position of absolute control brings out the worst in them (and in a more general sense, that people conform to the roles they’re placed in). An article appearing in Scientific American (Rethinking the Infamous Stanford Prison Experiment) includes new information leading researchers to ... Read More ..read more

Suppose you were working a job where everyone makes around $12/hour and your supervisor announced that she was raising salaries so that everyone at the company will now make at least $15/hour? You’d be pretty happy right? At Gravity Payments the CEO took a huge cut in pay and announced that every employee would make a minimum of 70K/year. A ... Read More ..read more

Here’s a current topic you might want to add to the Development chapter of your psych text for students to consider: do dogs and cats get attached to their owners? We certainly get attached to them. You might begin by asking student dog owners how they know their dog is attached to them. What kinds of behaviors indicate this? Now ... Read More ..read more

Like it or not, certain tasks around the house seem to have traditional gender roles attached to them. Females in the family often do the indoor tasks like cleaning and cooking and males often are assigned the outdoor tasks like mowing the grass and fixing the car. This is hilariously portrayed in this skit from Saturday Night Live: It seems ... Read More ..read more