One of the most popular topics in Psychology is attraction: why are we romantically attracted (or not) to each other? Whenever anyone asks me about this topic, or they ask me for other psychology podcasts in addition to The Psych Files. I send them over to the Psychology of Attractiveness podcast, hosted by Rob Burriss. Rob has been hosting this podcast for the past 6 years and he never fails to uncover the most interesting new research in this field.

Borderline Personality Disorder is a difficult disorder to understand and treat. Briefly, people who suffer from BPD tend to have a heightened sensitivity to rejection. When they feel that they are being rejected they can react with strong feelings of anger. Their emotions can be very intense and vary widely during the day. This can also make their relationships very unstable. They can also be very impulsive. However, a recent fascinating piece of research used a mobile device and what's called an "experience sampling" technique to gain further insight into what it is like to have BPD. In this episode I discuss that research and then wonder what else we might be able to learn as our mobile devices become even more powerful.

What is your body position revealing about you? Some things are obvious - you probably know that crossed arms indicate a certain distrust. There are also flirting gestures that I'll bet you think you know well (like women playing with their hair and men sticking out their chests), but what about your thumbs? My thumbs? Yes, you might well be revealing something about yourself by where you're putting them would you believe. Listen in as I talk with Craig Baxter, owner of the website All-About-Body-Language.com who will tell us a bit more about the fascinating topic of body language.

One of the hardest challenges as we grow up is to know how we feel and to understand how others feel. The next step after we're aware of our feelings is knowing how we're going to best act on them. That's the essence of Emotional Intelligence and in this episode, school psychologist and author Kyle Carlin talks about a book he has written called Bug and Boo. It's a charming story about a young girl and her imaginary friend, but it's also a tool to help parents, educators and therapists help youngsters recognize and deal with their own and others' feelings.

You probably know someone who is just plain...well, funny. They may not necessarily even tell that many jokes, but they know how to come up with funny interpretations for what's going on around you ("That guy looks like...."). They just know how to make you laugh. Researchers have studied this in great depth to find out What kind of personality makes for a good strong ability to just come up with funny stuff. And if you've ever watched the TV show, "Who's Line Is It Anyway", in which comedians have to come up with funny stuff on the spot, you've probably wondered how they do that. Let's take a look.

What do you think of hypnosis? might you be surprised to hear that it has been accepted by the American Psychological Association? Hypnosis has a fascinating and controversial history but today it deserves some respect. Still, it's not a cure-all. Take a trip with me through the history of this fascinating topic on The Psych Files.

Why do we find it so hard to put down our phones? I'll give you 5 reasons drawn directly from psychological theories on how we learn, how teenagers are strongly affected by reward and how we are all drawn in by mystery. There is of course no easy answer for how to get teens to put down their phones but I'll share what I'm doing with my teenagers.

Is there such a thing as a person having multiple personalities? The idea makes for great headlines and fascinating talk shows, but what's the real story? I talk about that in this episode of The Psych Files along with giving tips on how maximize the chances that you'll get help in an emergency and answer the question: is the new generation of teens lazy?

What do psychologists really think about your dreams - do they have meaning? In this episode I talk about what psychologists think today about dreams. You probably know that Freud thought that dreams had a manifest content (the people and things that happened in the dream that you remember) and a latent content (the unconscious meaning of the dream). Do we still think this? Also: can you look up in a book or online to find out what your dreams meant? If you dream about a cat for example - what does this mean? In this episode I explore these questions with author and psychoanalyst Kerry Malawista. She and her colleagues discuss this topic in their book, Wearing My Tutu To Analysis. I'll talk to her and include my own thoughts about whether or not dreams have meaning and whether you should be taking the time to analyze them.

We're all aware of the problem of fake news, but why do we fall for it? When we read a post on Facebook that sounds a little questionable, why don't we check into it further? You better believe there's some psychology going on here. In this episode I interview Dr. Gleb Tsipursky of Ohio State university. He's been studying this in great depth. We'll apply theories from Daniel Kahenmann (Thinking Fast and Slow) as well as examine the "backfire effect", emotional reasoning and emotional contagion to better understand what's going on. In the upcoming second part of this interview we'll look at what Gleb is up to with his Pro Truth Pledge where more psychology is being applied to help us all stop spreading fake news.

This week on The Psych Files we take 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...

Show notes and more available at http://www.thepsychfiles.com

Is cuddling good - especially for men - in marriage? Do baths make you feel less lonely, is Google really making you stupid, how does your body language affect your feelings, and....is that your cell phone vibrating? In this 2nd Psych Files brief I take a look at some of the more interesting psychological research circling around the web this past month.

What do you reveal about yourself in the way you use the smallest and seemingly most insignificant words you use every minute? That's the focus of Dr. James Pennebaker's fascinating book and one of the most interesting psychology books of 2011: The Secret Life of Pronouns. If you're fascinated by language then you'll find this episode especially interesting.

There is a lot of talk about mindfulness among psychologists today. Find out what mindfulness is and how it differs from meditation in this episode of The Psych Files. What might you use mindfulness for? Well, in addition to what you might expect - reducing stress - mindfulness training is also being used to improve job satisfaction and productivity. Interested in increasing your score on the GRE? Being more mindful might also help out there as well.

What do you think of your name? Like it? Do you prefer a nickname or do you prefer when people call you by your full name? Why do you think people have these preferences? That's what we're looking at in this episode - research showing that other people (and yourself) might be shaping you to actually look like and act like your name. It's not a conspiracy - it's science. I also look at the latest research on exercise and how it is that one day's exerise might just make the next day a whole lot better. #exercise #psychology

Everyone thinks critical thinking is a great thing. I don’t disagree, but how about a little open mindedness? I take a look at last week's episode on energy medicine and discuss being critical, the...

Show notes and more available at http://www.thepsychfiles.com

Have to memorize lines for a play or musical? There are a lot of techniques. Let me tell you about a few that are backed by science. I've been involved in the theatre for many years and I've done a lot of memorizing of both lines and song lyrics. Typically, actors and singers use repetition - and don't get me wrong - that works, but there are other ways to get those lines into your head. Ever heard of interleaving? How about using the Method of Loci (often called the Memory Palace) to memorize the sequence of an entire play? Impossible? Nope. Let's take a look.

Are you familiar with Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish's classic book "How To Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk"? You should be. It's not just for parents. The ideas in this book and in their other books should be required reading for all of us, but especially for parents, therapists and anyone interested in what we can do to better communicate with each other. I think you will be as charmed as I was listening to Adele and I encourage you to listen to part 2 of this interview (to be released in about a week).

How can we make learning as fun as it was when you were a child? We can. Listen to Dr. Eugene Geist as he explains the cognitive development theories of Jean Piaget and you'll understand why we are all geared to learn. We actively seek out learning experiences. How can we keep that excitement alive? Find out in this episode and in the episodes to follow as we examine ideas such as constructivism, problem-based learning, inquiry-based learning and democratic schools. This episode will also be helpful if you need to learn the different stages of Piaget's theory of cognitive development.

Bechdel test

• I’d Blush If I Could
• We tested bots like Siri and Alexa to see who would stand up to sexual harassment
• Why Siri and Alexa Weren’t Built to Smack Down Harassment
• Hey Siri, stop perpetuating sexist stereotypes, UN says
• Is it time for Alexa and Siri to have a “MeToo moment”?
• Female voice assistants fuel damaging gender stereotypes, says a UN study
• My WIX site and online learning experience in which I re-create the experiment conducted by Loftus and Palmer on eyewitness testimony.

The reason digital assistants acquiesce to harassment isn’t just sexism or gender inequality in the tech world, as disturbing and prevalent as those may be. No, the explanation lies elsewhere, I believe. These machines are meant to manipulate their users into staying connected to their devices, and that focus on manipulation must be laser-like. To clearly state that harassment toward digital assistants is unacceptable would mean having some standard, some line that can’t be crossed. And one line leads to another, and soon you’re distracted—the user is distracted—from selling/buying merchandise, collecting/sharing data, and allowing a device to become ensconced in their life.

The moral standard most compatible with engagement is absolute freedom of expression, the standard of having no standards. 

– Noam Cohen, “Why Siri and Alexa Weren’t Built to Smack Down Harassment”

It's ingrained in western society that people should find work they really enjoy - work that fulfills a passion. If you're lucky enough to have found work you're passionate about you ought to know that there is a dark side. People who know that you're doing the work because you love it might just take advantage of that. In this interview with researchers Troy Campbell and Steven Shepard discuss their research showing that when people know your work is your passion, there are a variety of ways they might take advantage of you. Let's find out how.

In this episode I cover a few interesting topics. First, have you ever "blanked out" in front of an audience? I recently did and I was determined to find out why this happened. I found some answers in a great book called Stop Talking, Start Influencing. Also I'll tell you about the memorization strategies I used in a recent play I was in, and we'll finish up with a snippet from an interview with Clive Thompson, author of Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World and he'll tell us how some coders tried to automate parts of their love life.

Do you have your own little “tricks”? That is, ways of doing things that are faster than how you used to do them? Well, congratulations, you’re something of an efficiency expert. And if you can picture an assembly line of people putting products together, then you’ve seen one way of increasing productivity. But some of us are really, really obsessed with efficiency and often those people are computer programmers. Some of them, as you’ll hear from Clive Thompson (author of “Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World”) have even developed ways to make their love lives more efficient! Sounds impossible but I think you’ll enjoy hearing what some coders are up to. Why are they obsessed with efficiency? Do they score highly on Conscientiousness in the Big Five personality score? Would Frederick Taylor - founder of scientific management - feel a kindred spirit in them? Let’s find out.