Just in time for Halloween, we talk about the psychology of strange stuff – including ghostly visitations, alien abductions, ESP, and more – with Chris French, PhD, head of the anomalistic psychology unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. Dr. French discusses how psychological explanations such as sleep paralysis and inattentional blindness could underlie ... Show More
Oct 8
Dyslexia myths, misconceptions and facts, with Tim Odegard, PhD
Dyslexia is one of the most common learning differences, yet it’s still widely misunderstood. Tim Odegard, PhD, talks about how dyslexia is diagnosed and defined; his own experience growing up with dyslexia; how kids at risk can be identified early; what interventions work best; ... Show More
39m 5s
Oct 1
Lefties, righties and mixed-handers: The psychology of brain asymmetry, with Sebastian Ocklenburg, PhD
Left-handers make up about 10.6 percent of the world’s population. Sebastian Ocklenburg, PhD, talks about why handedness and other brain asymmetries exist; the genetic and environmental factors that influence handedness; whether there’s any truth to the stereotype that lefties ar ... Show More
36m 46s
Sep 24
Teens, AI and the science of risky decisions, with Valerie Reyna, PhD
You might think the best way to make decisions is to know all the facts. But psychologists’ research suggests that getting the “gist” – the core meaning behind the facts – is more important than focusing on every last detail. Valerie Reyna, PhD, talks about why gist matters; how ... Show More
34m 33s
Jun 2024
The Psychology of The Paranormal - Carl Jung
Since early childhood, Carl Jung experienced paranormal phenomena, that is, phenomena that are beyond the scope of scientific understanding. They were virtually commonplace in Jung’s family. Jung’s personal experiences with the paranormal would set him on a quest to find an expla ... Show More
48m 34s
Oct 2019
Richard Wiseman on lying, luck and the paranormal
How do you tell if someone is lying? When Richard Wiseman, Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, conducted a nationwide experiment to identify the tell-tale signs, the results were surprising. If you want to spot a liar, don’t loo ... Show More
28m 21s
Apr 2020
STBYM Halftober Monsterfest Playlist, Episode 8: Demon in the Halls of Sleep
Halftober Monsterfest is about to get even weirder. Explore the basics of incubus and succubus myths, a few international variants and the possible biological, psychological and neurological explanations for these paranormal encounters. Learn more about your ad-choices at https:/ ... Show More
1h 16m
Oct 2020
SYSK Selects: How Ghosts Work
According to a 2009 poll, more Americans believe in ghosts than don't. But what are ghosts exactly? If they do exist, what are they made of and why are they hanging around? In this classic episode airing for Halloween, Josh and Chuck explore both sides of the divide between belie ... Show More
43m 3s
Oct 2023
Do you know about ghosts? 👻
In this episode, we discover why you might have thought you saw a ghost. We found out that many cultures, even if they are far apart, have tales about ghosts or spirits. We looked at ghosts from a science perspective and learned that sometimes our eyes and brains play tricks on u ... Show More
28m 1s