All day, every day, we have to make decisions, from what to have for breakfast to how to spend our money to whether to evacuate ahead of a hurricane. Psychologists’ research is helping us understand why people make the decisions they do, from trivial choices to life-and-death ones. Decision scientists Lace Padilla, PhD, and Hannah Perfecto, PhD, discuss why ... 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
Dec 2023
Life Could Be Different ... And Maybe Better?
Are people ever satisfied? Two social psychologists, Ethan Ludwin-Peery and Adam Mastroianni, fell down a research rabbit hole accidentally answering a version of this very question. After conducting several studies, the pair found that when asked how things could be different, p ... Show More
12m 43s