Psychology Takeaway Podcast

 

 

Can optimism be overdone? Yes, there is something referred to as Toxic Optimism – but generally speaking, optimism beat pessimism.

Ralph and Jim look at the work of Duckworth and Seligman as they have investigated the relationship between optimism, pessimism and various cognitive, emotional and behavioral outcomes.

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Here is Duckworth’s Ted Talk on Grit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H14bBuluwB8

Here is a short clip of Seligman defining optimism:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-rMuJW-UKg

April 16,2021 – Ralph and Jim conclude the series on attachment disorder.

Learn More:

Here is a link to the article that they were discussing - https://elemental.medium.com/anxiety-is-in-your-body-not-your-mind-93031abd14eb

March 29, 2021 - The importance of Attachment

Jim and Ralph look at the various styles of attachment and discuss the consequences of attachment that is not secure.

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How adverse experiences in childhood affect physical and emotional health in adulthood.

https://youtu.be/95ovIJ3dsNk

Decisions, decisions, decisions!!!

Today is March 15 – the dyes of March. If Caesar had had made a decision to avoid the Forum in Rome on this particular day, his fate may have been different.

Ralph and Jim look at the psychology behind decision making.

Ralph supplies the Six R’s of decision making:

1. Do the right thing
2. For the right reasons
3. With the right people
4. At the right time
5. And you will not regret it
6. For the rest of your life

If only Julius had listened to Ralph.

 

Learn More:

The Art of making good decisions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jka7Q9LqlUg

 

his podcast is a bit longer than most, actually it is QUITE a bit longer. Jim and Ralph sink there teeth into the antidote for getting bogged down when an emergency occurs – RESILIENCE!!!

 

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Becoming more resilient:

https://www.ted.com/talks/lucy_hone_the_three_secrets_of_resilient_people

What trauma teaches us about resilience:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qELiw_1Ddg

 

In the podcast Ralph uses the metaphor of the yearly life cycle of a tree to illustrate resilience. Jim mentioned a song by Phil Oakes that mirrors, to some extent that metaphor - Changes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8uk8kEz3UM

 

 Consider some recent disasters: freezing weather in the South, world wide Pandemic, climate change, economic instability, political instability…Other???

Ralph and Jim look at the psychological consequences of these events and assess the social and emotional impact – and the impact is huge!

 

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You may find these helpful

How emotion short-circuits logic – and how to prevent it from happening.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u3UvXqArqs 

 

Disaster preparation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deBfDn-H1ws

This week Ralph and Jim are joined by Central Michigan University’s Psychology Chair, Dr. Hajime Otani. The three discuss the strange memory phenomenon called  Hypermnesia.  Instead of forgetting over time this effect shows that, in some cases, memory actually improved.

They also talk about some ways to help learners of all ages to remember material presented to them (this is particularly helpful if you are now helping your child to learn from home.

 

Learn More:

What if you never forget ANYTHING!!! Check out this story:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/feb/08/total-recall-the-people-who-never-forget

 

 

Memory is one of the most thoroughly studied areas in psychology – yet there is more that is revealed  – the activities in Washington over the past few weeks attest to that fact.

Jim and Ralph examine the eye-witness memory and show that our memory is not a video camera that records everything with pain staking accuracy  - it is more like muddy  water in a bucket!

Learn More:

1. Psychologist Elizabeth Loftus studies memories. More precisely, she studies false memories, when people either remember things that didn't happen or remember them differently from the way they really were. It's more common than you might think, and Loftus shares some startling stories and statistics, and raises some important ethical questions we should all remember to consider.

         https://youtu.be/PB2OegI6wvI

2. Scott Fraser studies how humans remember crimes -- and bear witness to them. In this powerful talk, which focuses on a deadly shooting at sunset, he suggests that even close-up eyewitnesses to a crime can create "memories" they could not have seen. Why? Because the brain abhors a vacuum.

https://youtu.be/buhMdC7MO0U

 

Last week’s Podcast concluded with Ralph saying he was going to present an argument for “It’s good to be grumpy”. Jim countered that laughter might be a good medicine – but grumpiness, not so much.

This week Ralph presents his thesis and Jim sees the point.

January 31, 2021 - Jim and Ralph discuss the concepts of "being nice" and "being kind" and conclude that one has more positive traction than the other.