Speaking of Psychology

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has called to add cancer warnings to alcohol labels. For many people, “Dry January” offers a chance try out a low- or no-alcohol life. Health psychologist Richard de Visser, PhD, talks about what’s driving public interest in Dry January and other “sober curious” trends; how temporarily giving up drinking can affect your mental and physical health; and how to succeed if you’d like to give Dry January a try. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Ponzi schemes to email phishing identity thieves, the world can seem full of people who want to deceive us. Daniel Simons, PhD, and Christopher Chabris, PhD, co-authors of Nobody’s Fool: Why We Get Taken In and What We Can Do About It, talk about the cognitive habits that put us at risk of believing lies; famous frauds and cons from the worlds of business, science, and competitive chess; and what you can do to protect yourself, and your wallet, by spotting scammers before it’s too late. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is one of the most frequently diagnosed personality disorders, and one of the most misunderstood. Carla Sharp, PhD, of the University of Houston, discusses how BPD is diagnosed, defined and treated, how family members can help children and adults with BPD, and how the disorder fits in with researchers’ evolving understanding of personality disorders in general. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our dreams can be exhilarating, surprising, terrifying, even mundane. But where do they come from and what, if anything, do they mean? Dream researcher Antonio Zadra, PhD, talks about why some people remember their dreams vividly while others don’t remember them at all; whether exploring dreams can offer insight into our waking lives; why nightmares happen and effective treatments for problematic recurring nightmares; understanding lucid dreaming and sleepwalking; and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In job interviews and in life, perfectionism is often seen as a selling point – an asset disguised as a flaw. But as psychologists have found rising rates of perfectionism in the United States and around the world in recent decades, they’ve begun to recognize the toll that the drive to be perfect can take on people’s mental health and well-being. Thomas Curran, PhD, author of “The Perfection Trap: Embracing the Power of Good Enough,” talks about different types of perfectionism, why more and more of us feel the need to push ourselves to perfection, and what can we do – as individuals, as parents and as a society – to recognize that often, ‘good’ is good enough. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you dreading the cold, dark months ahead? In Scandinavia, where the winters are among the coldest and darkest on earth, many people look forward to winter as a time of coziness, beauty and rest. Psychologist Kari Leibowitz, PhD, author of “How to Winter,” talks about how cold weather and darkness affect our body and mind and what can we learn from the way that residents of cold-weather places approach the season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does shopping bring you joy? Or do you feel a bit of pain and regret every time you have to make a purchase? Many of us will be shopping for gifts in the upcoming weeks—whether we enjoy it or not. Scott Rick, PhD, of the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, discusses how our emotions drive our buying behaviors, why some people spend money so easily while others find it so difficult, whether “retail therapy” actually works, and why Black Friday sales are so irresistible. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Strong, supportive relationships are key to our mental and even physical health. But what are the keys to a healthy, loving relationship? John Gottman, PhD, and Julie Schwartz Gottman, PhD, talk about why it’s so important to pay attention to your partner’s “bids for connection,” how to have productive rather than destructive fights, whether any couple can learn to communicate better, and why it’s a myth that you should never go to bed angry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our culture tends to prize being bold and outgoing, making the world harder to navigate for kids who are shy. Dr. Koraly Pérez-Edgar talks about temperament in young children, how shyness develops from babyhood on, the difference between shyness and introversion, how parents and other caregivers can best support shy kids, and recognizing the advantages of a shy temperament. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Birdbrain” may be an insult, but birds are far smarter than they’re often given credit for. Irene Pepperberg, PhD, talks about her five decades of research with gray parrots, how she teaches parrots to communicate with English words, how birds’ mathematical and other abilities compare with young children, how the field of animal cognition has evolved over the decades and what it can teach us about intelligence in general. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the surgical suite to the battlefield to the driver’s seat of a car, robots and other autonomous systems are increasingly part of people’s workplaces and their daily lives. Ericka Rovira, PhD, a professor of engineering psychology at the United States Military Academy West Point, talks about how robots are being used in the military, in medicine and in other complex, high-stakes arenas; how trust and collaboration work on human-robot teams; and how we humans can maintain our skills as we increasingly rely on robots and AI to assist us in our work and lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the past few decades the U.S. has become an increasingly less religious country, and many people who grew up with religion have chosen to leave the faith they were raised in. Daryl Van Tongeren, PhD, author of “Done: How to Flourish after Leaving Religion,” talks about the changing religious landscape in the U.S.; what’s driving these religious “dones”; the spiritual, social and other challenges they face; and how people rebuild meaning in life after leaving religion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Even as the average family size shrinks in much of the world, myths about only children remain common – including that they’re lonely, spoiled or maladjusted. Toni Falbo, PhD, talks about her decades of research with only children that have dispelled many of these myths, explains what researchers have found instead, and offers advice for parents of only children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Between raising young children, climbing the career ladder and handling the everyday demands of adult life, the 30s and 40s can be a particularly busy time. Developmental psychologist Clare Mehta, PhD, talks about the challenges and rewards of “established adulthood”; how relationships, friendships and work life change; and why it’s useful to think of the 30s and 40s as its own distinct life stage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every year, there are more than 2.8 million traumatic brain injuries in the U.S. The risks of brain injury among youth athletes, pro football players and military veterans have all made headlines in recent years. But other populations are at increased risk as well – including people in the criminal justice system and domestic violence survivors. Concussion researcher and brain health advocate Kim Gorgens, PhD, talks about how to identify TBI, what happens to the brain when you get a concussion, what we should we be doing to protect athletes and help them recover, and what could we be doing to mitigate the harms of brain injury in often-overlooked populations such as domestic violence survivors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices