Blog
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Why Nobody Pushed the Button: The Psychology Behind a Subway Tragedy
When someone collapses in a public place, will anyone actually help? It’s one of the oldest questions in social psychology, and the newest research gives a surprisingly hopeful answer. But a recent death in a Boston subway station complicates that answer in a way worth understanding — not because it proves people are heartless, but…
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Why People Step Out of the Plane — and Go Back Up the Next Day
After a fatal weekend in extreme sports, a psychologist explains why sensation seekers feel clarity where the rest of us feel panic — and why they go back up.
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Your Muscles Are Talking to Your Brain — and It Might Be Why Exercise Fights Depression
You already know what people tell you when you say you’re feeling low: go for a walk, get some exercise, you’ll feel better. And maybe part of you bristles at that, because it sounds too simple to be real. How is moving your legs supposed to touch something as heavy as depression? Well, scientists have…
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Does Your Dog or Cat Need Closure? Pet Grief and the Psychology of Loss
Our cat Charles who we miss very much.
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Why Your Favorite Playlist Eventually Bores You — and the Algorithm Is Part of the Problem
A new study suggests the recommendation algorithms that find you the perfect song may be quietly making your entertainment boring — and a little randomness is the fix.
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Does Spoiling Your Kids Actually Create Narcissists? Here’s What the Research Says
You’ve probably heard it before — maybe you’ve even said it yourself: “That kid is going to grow up to be a real handful.” We have a strong gut sense that giving children everything they want, never saying no, removing every obstacle before they can encounter it — all of that leads to something dark…
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Personality Scale
What does the way you draw a tree reveal about your personality? That’s the premise behind the Baum Test — a projective personality assessment developed by Swiss psychologist Charles Koch in 1949. The idea is deceptively simple: the choices you make when sketching a tree, the shape of the trunk, how you draw the branches,…
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“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 Yale has spent decades studying how our aging mindset — the beliefs we hold about what getting older actually means — shapes how we physically…
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Levels of Processing Activity
Levels of Processing: An Online Memory Activity Levels of Processing An Activity On How Your Memory Works You Are About to Run a Memory Study on Yourself Actors who memorize scripts don’t succeed by repeating lines over and over. Research shows they do something different: they focus on meaning. The deeper they process a line…
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The Psych Files – Most Popular Episodes
I’ll bet you’re looking for one of these episodes. They are my most popular and the ones that really make me proud (if you’re looking for some other previous episode/blog post on this site, please contact me at: mikrbritt at mac dot com):
AP Psych Terms
adaptation aging animal cognition attachment theory biological bases of behavior bystander intervention child development Craik and Lockhart depression dopamine elaborative rehearsal emotion encoding grief habituation health psychology long-term memory loss memory mere exposure effect mood disorders narcissistic personality disorder neuroplasticity neurotransmitters operant conditioning parenting styles personality personality assessment placebo effect pluralistic ignorance projective tests psychoanalytic theory reinforcement self-esteem self-fulfilling prophecy sensation seeking social cognition social support stereotype threat unconscious