Can a “growth mindset” help students achieve their potential? With David Yeager, PhD
In recent years, research on the power of growth mindset has made the leap from the psychology lab to popular culture. Growth mindset is the belief that a person’s intelligence and abilities can grow ...
12 Maj 202132min
What is it like to remember every day of your life? With Michael Yassa, PhD, and Markie Pasternak
For people with Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory, or HSAM, every day is memorable. Ask them what they were doing on this date 10 years ago, and they’ll be able to tell you. Markie Pasternak, on...
5 Maj 202139min
Your Brain Is Not What You Think It Is, with Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD
What if the way you think about your brain and how and why it functions is just plain wrong? Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD, a professor of psychology at Northeastern University and author of the book “7 ½...
28 Apr 202138min
How to cope with climate anxiety, with Thomas Doherty, PsyD, and Ashlee Cunsolo, PhD
Over the past several years, climate change has moved from an abstract idea to a reality in many Americans’ lives – a reality that we are increasingly worried about. An APA survey found that two-third...
21 Apr 202136min
Why you should talk to strangers, with Gillian Sandstrom, PhD, and Jon Levy
Despite the fact that so many people profess to dislike making small talk, it turns out that talking to strangers and acquaintances can actually strengthen our mental health and enrich our lives. What...
14 Apr 202141min
Suicide Prevention, with Jill Harkavy-Friedman, PhD
It’s too soon to know what effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the suicide rate in the United States, but even before the pandemic, that rate had been increasing in recent years, particularly amon...
7 Apr 202132min
What Makes Things Funny? With Peter McGraw, PhD
What is it about puns that tickles our funny bone? Or dad jokes? How about a person slipping on a banana peel? What could possibly tie all these very different things together under the heading “humor...
31 Mars 202140min
How the threat of disease has shaped human behavior, with Mark Schaller, PhD
The COVID-19 pandemic is a grim reminder that infectious diseases have been a danger throughout human history–so much so that the threat of infection has actually helped shape human evolution. Disgust...
24 Mars 202129min
