Psychology in Everyday Life: The Psych Files

You've Got Dopamine Backwards (and I Can Prove It On Piano)

What do a false ending to the Star Spangled Banner, a food delivery website where nothing ever arrives, and a monkey waiting for a squirt of juice have in common? In this

Science Corrects Itself: The Embodied Cognition Story

What is embodied cognition, and did it survive the replication crisis? This episode of The Psych Files examines the famous embodied cognition and social priming studies —

The Secret to a Good Joke Is Silence

This episode looks at why comic timing works, using a 2026 study from Yuxi Ma, Yongqian Peng, and colleagues at Peking University, presented at the Cognitive Science Soci

AI: Mixed Feelings, Cognitive Dissonance, and the Stories We Tell Ourselves

Most of us who use AI tools live with a quiet contradiction: the tools are genuinely useful, and using them raises real ethical problems — work that might have gone to a

Why Nobody Pushed the Button: The Psychology Behind a Subway Tragedy

Why did more than a dozen people walk past Steven McCluskey as he lay trapped in a Boston subway escalator? On the surface it seems to refute the newest research on bysta

Why People Step Out of the Plane — and Go Back Up the Next Day

Why would anyone step out of an airplane — and why, after a fatal accident, would they go back up the very next day? In this episode I talk through that question using a

Does Your Cat or Dog Need Closure? Pet Grief and the Psychology of Loss

We hear the word "closure" everywhere — in true crime shows, in news coverage of trials, and in the well-meaning advice of friends after a loss. But where did this idea c

Home Alone: The Hidden Cost of Remote Work

I've worked from home for about fifteen years, and I like it. I'm a writer, I'm fine being on my own, and I've got the cats for company. But there's one thing I miss, tho

"I'm Getting Old" — And That Thought Might Be Killing You

Do you catch yourself saying "I'm getting old" more than you'd like to admit? Turns out, that habit might be doing more damage than you think. Psychologist Becca Levy of

Actors Don't Really Memorize Lines!

Why do some people remember things effortlessly while others repeat information over and over and still forget it? In this episode, Michael looks at what research on acto

Latest Research: Anthropomorphism and Dementia

In this episode of The Psych Files, I explore anthropomorphism—our tendency to attribute human characteristics to non-human entities—drawing from Justin Gregg's new book

The Surprising Psychology Behind Effortless Line Memorization

When I receive a new script, my first step surprises people. I create an audio recording of every scene I’m in – not just my lines, but everyone’s lines. Using apps like

Why Are We So Polite to AI?

When we say "please" or "thank you" to ChatGPT, we're witnessing the remarkable power of human social psychology in action. Our brains have developed such deeply ingraine

The Song "Yesterday," Manhood, and the Fear of Vulnerability

In this episode of The Psych Files, I explore the fascinating intersection between music, psychology, and gender roles through subtle lyric changes in Paul McCartney’s ti

Study Hack: Use ChatGPT to Ace Your Exams! | Self-Explanation Effect

Discover how to leverage ChatGPT and other AI tools to dramatically improve your learning and test performance! In this video, I explain a powerful study technique called

Lost in the Click: Exploring the Browser Doorway Effect

The Blank Tab Effect: A Modern Doorway Phenomenon Have you ever switched to a new browser tab, only to find yourself staring at a blank page and wondering why you opened

Beck's Cognitive Distortions: An AI-Powered Learning Activity

In my recent exploration of artificial intelligence, I stumbled upon a fascinating article entitled, “Instructors as Innovators: a Future-focused Approach to New AI Learn

Paralyzed by Fear: Exploring Tonic Immobility in Sexual Assault

In this episode of "The Psych Files," we delve into the complex and sensitive topic of sexual assault, focusing particularly on the phenomenon of tonic immobility, often

Cloning Voices: Scary Maybe, But Also Therapeutic?

I'm about as worried as anyone else about how the new tools for cloning voices could be used by "bad actors" to clone the voices of politicians to make them say things th

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

How does music affect us emotionally? Why do minor chords sound so sad? In this episode of The Psych Files I explore ideas from Daniel Leviton's fascinating book, Your Br