Episode 113: Interview with Scott Lilienfeld on the 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology

  • December 27, 2009
  • 24 Comments

In this interview Dr. Scott Lilienfeld, author of 50 Myths of Popular Psychology and we talk about, a) does the polygraph actually work?, b) do women talk more than men?, c) does handwriting analysis reveal your personality? and d) when you’re taking a multiple choice test should you change your first answer or leave it alone? Along the way we also talk about whether the full moon really does make people act strangely (and cause more dog bites). Finally, Dr. Lilienfeld provides his opinion on whether psychotherapists need to be more up-to-date on the scientific research behind the various types of psychotherapy.

Episode 112: Evolutionary Psychology – David Buss Responds to Critics – Part 2

  • December 16, 2009
  • 8 Comments

In part 2 of my interview with David Buss, he responds to more criticisms of evolutionary psychology. Here’s what we cover: a) does evolutionary psychology just give criminals another reason not to take responsibility for themselves?, b) is all the research in evolutionary psychology done on American college students?, c) are evolutionary psychology theories falsifiable?

Episode 111: Evolutionary Psychology – David Buss Responds to Critics

  • December 6, 2009
  • 8 Comments

There has been a lot of criticism of evolutionary psychology lately. How do researchers respond? One of the leading researchers in this field – Dr. David Buss of the University of Texas responds to these critics in part 1 of this 2 part episode. Find out how he responds to these questions: a) is evolutionary psychology sexist?, b) doesn’t evolutionary psychology just give people the ammunition they need to not take responsibility for themselves? c) theories from evolutionary psychology are not falsifiable, this it’s not scientific and d) human society is always changing – it hasn’t been stable enough long enough for any human behavior to have evolved.

Episode 103: Raising Children – Interview with Author Jamie Raser

  • August 30, 2009
  • 6 Comments

Having trouble raising your children? Join the crowd. There are lots of parenting books, but here’s one you should know about: “Raising Children You Can Live With” by Jamie Raser. He has an approach to parenting that is not about “picking your battles”, but about staying out of battles altogether and talking with your child in a way that doesn’t lead to shouting, screaming and anger. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Episode 90: The Learning Styles Myth: An Interview with Daniel Willingham

  • March 29, 2009
  • 38 Comments

Guess what? There’s no such thing as learning style (the theory that each of us has a preferred way to learn new ideas. There are many supposed kinds of learning styles, such as a visual learning style, an auditory style, kinesthetic, etc.). Don’t believe it? Neither did I at first. I was sure for a long time that I personally had a visual learning style. Now I’m not so sure anymore. Listen to this interview with professor and author Daniel Willingham as he and I discuss the topic of learning styles.

Episode 85: How to Make Learning Fun Again – Constructivism and Democratic Schools – Part 2

  • January 30, 2009
  • 1 Comment

What the heck is constructivism anyway? In this episode I explore that topic with Dr. Eugene Geist. We also explore what some would consider a radical concept in education: democratic schools. What would happen if we let children decide how they wanted to learn? Complete Chaos? Or an exciting new way to get students involved in and taking responsibility for learning?