Guess what? Practice definitely does NOT always lead to perfection. When you practice an instrument are you doing it right? In this episode I explore the “10,000 hour” myth and how you can practice something – like an instrument or a language – in a way that is going to result in much faster learning. We’ll see that the idea … Read More
Ep 278: How to Memorize Your Lines or Lyrics – Techniques You Never Heard Of
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 … Read More
Ep 277: How to Remember Names and the Psychology of that BBC Interrupted Interview
It’s hard to remember names – here’s how to do it. You’ll use your imagination and some weird imagery – but this works. Here’s another great use of mnemonics. I’ll give you a bunch of people’s names and describe the images I created to help me remember them. Give your brain a little room to roam and put it to … Read More
Ep 275: What Makes Some People Funny?
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 … Read More
Ep 272: How To Create a Human-Like Voice
Have you used Siri, Hey Google, Aleza or Cortana? These voice-enabled digital assistants are pretty cool and getting smarter, but why do some of them sound more like a “person” than others? What is it about your voice that makes people believe that there is a thinking human being behind it? In this episode I take a look at a … Read More
Ep 269: How To Get People To Be Creative
Do “Blue Sky” brainstorming sessions actually produce anything creative? If you’ve ever sat around with a group of people and tried to “just come up with something creative” you probably found that it’s pretty hard. We actually don’t think that creatively when we’re told to just “throw things out there” and “nothing will be judged”. It’s often more productive to … Read More
Ep 268: Applying an Established Memory Strategy to Improve Literacy (and click-through rates on your web articles…)
The printed word has been around for a long time. Bet you thought there was nothing new in how we put words together in a book or website. Well, guess again. Researchers at Asymmetrica have drawn upon a tried and true memory strategy called “chunking” and applied it to – get this – the amount of white space between words. … Read More
Ep 267: Productive Confusion with Jeremiah Sullins
We often like it when things are explained to us clearly, but would you believe that sometimes it’s better if you’re just down-right confused? You could actually learn more if at some point in the learning process you feel like you don’t know what’s going on. In part 2 of my interview with researcher and professor Jeremiah Sullins, we talk … Read More
Ep: 266: Why Do You REALLY Support That Candidate? The Psychology of Your Voting Behavior
Why do you vote the way you do? Have you read through all the various candidates position statements, or do you just kinda go with your “gut”? Jeremiah Sullins, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Harding University has looked at this question in great depth and he’s found some really interesting answers to this question. I think you’ll really enjoy hearing … Read More
Ep 262: Demonic Possession or A Lack of Skeptical Thinking?
Is it possible that some people who we think are mentally ill are actually victims of demonic possession? One psychiatrist says yes. Another psychiatrist says no – believing this is true is a matter of not carefully thinking about what you see and hear from others. In this episode I break down the claims made by Richard Gallagher and a … Read More
