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Why We Do What We Do

Create an enjoyable listener experience about psychological concepts that anyone can easily consume.

science social sciences

All Episodes

00:50:15

231 | Vampires

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/10/13

There are legitimate medical conditions that may have given rise to the myth of vampires. We discuss the history of vampire lore, vampirism in other cultures, and the diseases that may have inspired the concept of vampires.

en-US

01:01:20

230 | History of Halloween

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/10/06

Halloween is a timeless tradition that offers innocent and sometimes mischievous fun for people of all ages. It’s at time where anyone can mask their identity in place of a playful one, dive into buckets of candy, and wake up the next day with a hell of a hangover or stomachache. However, the commercialized Halloween we know and love today began during the Middle Ages as a pagan festival for the harvest, one in which the changing of the season was associated with connecting with the spirits of the

en-US

00:47:20

229 | Low-Grade Mania

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/09/29

This rare disease has been described as "the one you would want to get if you had to have a disorder." Nevertheless, the long-term effects are deleterious. One of the hosts disclosed having this diagnosis. Hypomania is somewhat convoluted and highly associated with more familiar disorders such as bipolar. Find out more in this episode! Links:

en-US

00:58:44

228 | Psychology's Checkered Bible

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/09/22

Did you know the first attempt to catalog mental health diversity occurred as part of the US Census? Although people had been imprisoning people for "mental health" issues for a century beforehand, the first attempts to categorize neuro-diverse individuals did not begin until the mid 1800s. Once the DSM was established it went through several iterations and conceptual and technological shifts. Learn all about our weird plot-less

en-US

01:07:45

227 | Guardians

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/09/15

Conservatorship didn't begin with Britney Spears. Shane and Abraham discuss her case and the general principle behind conservatorship. This is meant to be a good thing, and often is a good thing, but there is the potential for abuse. We discuss some considerations for this. Links for

en-US

00:58:02

226 | Jet Lag

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/09/08

The ability to travel far enough fast enough to feel the effects of a dramatically different day/night cycle is very new to the human experience. Only in the last century or century and a half has the concept of time zones even come to exist, let alone the idea that crossing them could mess with our biology. Now we are in the thick of it and the "treatments" are mostly bunk. Jet Lag is one of those things that is best treated with a change in behavior. Links: 1.

en-US

00:47:23

225 | Sleepless in Insomnia

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/09/01

There are different types of insomnia characterized by the causes and nature of the issue. For instance, insomnia caused by external factors such as drugs or kids, is not the primary kind of insomnia. To treat insomnia, one of the most powerful interventions is simply modifying sleep hygiene routines. Links for

en-US

00:39:06

224 | Speed Reading: Read Anything in Normal Minutes

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/08/25

It is not hard to find websites and gurus offering the promise of reading at extreme speeds while maintaining high comprehension. So, what doesn't everyone do this? Because there are physical limits to what humans can do. Speed reading is an empty promise without evidence. Links for Today: https://qz.com/597995/there-really-is-no-such-thing-as-speed-reading/

en-US

00:53:57

223 | What is the Point of Music Videos?

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/08/18

From “Thriller” to “Gangnam Style,” and everything in between, music videos have captured our hearts for several decades. This episode explores the early iterations that existed before the advent of MTV brought music videos into the mainstream and revolutionized it as an art form. With a unique combination of audio and visual stimuli, music videos continue to challenge the norm and launch new performers into stardom. Links for

en-US

00:54:10

222 | Kleptomania

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/08/11

Kleptomania is an accepted mental condition listed under a category of disorders related to impulse control. It involves an individual’s ability to resist “urges” that arise under unique circumstance that vary across each person, and often involve stealing small meaningless items from stores, loved ones, etc. While it’s more common in younger women, it exists across many types of people and often starts during adolescence. Given the low magnitude of early instances, individuals have a tendency to

en-US

00:59:42

221 | Impulsivity and the Marshmallow

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/08/04

There are several quintessential psychology experiments whose notoriety transcend beyond college Intro Psych Courses. Walter Mischel’s “Marshmallow Test,” as it became popularized as, was no exception. The seminal study gave kids a chance to wait for preferred items or demonstrate limited self-control by selecting a less-preferred option earlier. Mischel and his colleagues, as well as several follow-up studies, sought to determine the longitudinal value of their results on predicting academic and

en-US

00:32:17

220 | Gross Sounds

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/07/28

Shane and Abraham (Shanebraham) explore the not-a-disorder, but still very real experience that many people have. Misophonia (not the sound of musical miso, although that's what the name seems like it should imply) is a relatively common experience of an extreme aversion to certain sounds. For Abraham it is heavy machinery, for Shane, Avril Lavigne (jk!). Shane and Abraham have fun unpacking the science behind how misophonia develops and what you can do to change it you want to. Links for

en-US

00:50:35

219 | ABA Pt. 9: Reflections

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/07/21

If the last episode was the end, consider this the epilogue. The making-of, if you will. We recount our experiences with anxiety, ethics, planning, and all of the wonderful feedback we received. This is our postmortem for the process. Links for

en-US

00:52:24

218 | ABA Pt. 8: The Finale

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/07/14

The end. Fin. The culmination of the miniseries on the controversy around Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) as harmful. This final discussion is what we have been working toward over this entire series: the comparison of ABA to conversion therapy. The argument focuses on stereotypic behaviors and other "quirky" or non-normative behaviors in which non-neurotypical people might engage (not to mention that those neuro-typical people also demonstrate!). This was the most complex issue that we tackled and

en-US

00:29:51

217 | ABA Pt. 7: Feelings

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/07/07

The argument is that Behavior Analysts don't consider a child's emotional well-being and ignore their feelings. Specifically, this is in regard to blocking or preventing self-soothing behaviors such as self-stimulatory "stereotypic" behaviors. Discussions of feelings are essentially absent from professional discussions as well. The first thing to address in this space is that behavior analysts are humans with feelings and consider the fact that emotions are important. However, behavior analysts are

en-US

00:39:03

216 | ABA Pt. 6: Dependency

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/06/30

Teaching, managing, supervising, etc. requires some amount of scaffolding to train new skills. For example, providing explicit instruction, demonstrating the performance, immediate feedback, and even physical guidance are all used to help learn a new skill. However, if not faded from the instruction, then the learner becomes dependent on the guidance to perform the task. Several strategies can help mitigate prompt-dependency and we talk about them! Links for

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00:33:36

215 | ABA Pt. 5: Obedience

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/06/23

Over compliance can arise in coercive situations inside of many contexts including workplaces, relationships, and in ABA. It can also arise under multiple circumstances such as a highly reinforcing, or a highly coercive environment. Either way, we want people to think for themselves and ask for help. Noncompliance for the win! Links for

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00:42:36

214 | ABA Pt. 4: Applying It

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/06/16

One of the most substantial hurdles is ensuring that what we do can be applied to real-life situations. Generalization is one of the stated goals of the field of ABA and much has been done to increase the likelihood that kids can generalize their skills. Nevertheless, it is one of the areas in which we can and should do better. Links for

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00:41:53

213 | ABA Pt. 3: Little Robots

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/06/09

One of the challenging aspects of teaching new behaviors is to teach them in such a way that they are meaningful to the individual, their social community, and to their family. Doing so can result in behaviors and speech that sound repetitive to the point of appearing robotic. It is something that can be offputting, and something that we can improve. Onward! Links for

en-US

00:40:13

212 | ABA Pt. 2: A History of Punishment

Why We Do What We Do ·

2021/06/02

This discussion follows us into the past as we talk about the use of punishment as an intervention for changing behavior. This practice stood alongside a host of horrific treatments from a range of different fields for neuro-diverse individuals. But the use of punishment is all but completely absent from contemporary ABA. Nevertheless, we understand the concern about seeing our loved ones in distress. Links for

en-US

272 results

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