Shows / Why We Do What We Do
Why We Do What We Do
We explain popular and weird, little-known ideas in psychology. Whether you are a little curious about psychology, or a student, or even a professional, we have something for everyone.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-we-do-what-we-do--3419521/support.
Episodes
- Why We Do What We Do
Your Lizard Brain
Many of us will blame our most instinctual behaviors, impulses, and drives on the vestigial, reptilian parts of our brains. My lizard brain made me do it! What…
- Why We Do What We Do
Mini: PTO vs. Sick Leave
Employers should consider what they are incentivizing and de-incentivizing when they put certain policies in place. One such common policy is to make employees…
- Why We Do What We Do
Not So Sweet Revenge
People often invoke our impulses by referencing the lizard part of our brains. What is this vistigial reptillian cortex that weilds so much power over our most…
- Why We Do What We Do
Mini: Scientific Understanding
We can broadly categorize our levels of confidence or purpose of scientific data based on the amount of and quality of the information we have about the…
- Why We Do What We Do
Nostalgia: Grit With Steven Hayes
Due to some unforeseen circumstances, we needed to release another nostalgia episode this week. This was our second most popular episode ever. Dr. Steven Hayes…
- Why We Do What We Do
Mini: Mood Rings
Mood rings change color to inform the external world about our emotional states. How does this magical jewelry make our most private, inner experiences overtly…
- Why We Do What We Do
Thumbs and the Evolution of Culture
Do pandas have thumbs? Kind of. We should periodically take the time to acknowledge and admire the significan role our biological morphology affects our…
- Why We Do What We Do
Mini: Deductive vs. Inductive Reasoning
Many people have taken a strong stance for a particular approach to reasoning: either inductive or deductive. However, we are going to try to argue that these…
- Why We Do What We Do
Black Applied Behavior Analysts Conference
What does it take to put on a conference? We invite speical guests Jackie and Tyanna to talk about how and why they are a part of the team that organizes the…
- Why We Do What We Do
Mini: Does Philosophy Matter for Expertise?
Our least scripted, most free-form discussion ever! Abraham doesn't even tell Shane the topic until after hitting record. This is the most raw, actual…
- Why We Do What We Do
The Seven Wonders
Do you know all seven of the wonders? Do you know how they were chosen? As a species, we seem to be fascinated with lists and ranking things. So, let's talk…
- Why We Do What We Do
Mini: Can Stress Turn Your Hair Gray?
The idea that stress turns our hair gray has been the punchline of many jokes. Do those of us with anxiety gray sooner? We do a quick dive into the science of…
- Why We Do What We Do
Nostalgia: Social Media Addiction pt. 2
Oh rare Friday release! This is our follow up to our nostalgia episode on Social Media addiction. Enjoy! This concludes our mult-month coverage of the topic of…
- Why We Do What We Do
Nostalgia: Social Media Addiction pt. 1
Recorded in the early days of the pandemic, we are resurrecting this little gem to put a cap on our series of addiction-themed episodes. Amazing how much and…
- Why We Do What We Do
Mini: Books Bound in Human Skin
WARNING: Contains discussion of death, murder, and mutliation which some listeners may find disturbing. Who even wants to think about this? A lot of people, it…
- Why We Do What We Do
How to Treat Addiction
Wishful thinking, empty promises and empty threats, and shaming don't work to treat addiction. People have been trying to strategize ways to overcome addiction…
- Why We Do What We Do
Mini: Catnip
Is catnip "drugs" for your cat? Why does it affect them the way that it does? We explain what is going on in the brain and the behavior of cats when they get…
- Why We Do What We Do
Food Addiction
Another example of behavioral excess of things that are biologically necessary. Again, the utility of calling this an "addiction" is questionable, and we will…
- Why We Do What We Do
Mini: Traffic Jams
Traffic is the worst. But, why do traffic jams happen in the first place? Am I the problem? Are you the problem? Are we all the problem?! We'll unpack what you…
- Why We Do What We Do
Gambling pt. 2
Whereas part 1 was more about the history of gambling, casinos, and the psychology of designing gambling and gambling environments to foster addiction as much…
- Why We Do What We Do
Mini: Skin Idioms
We did an episode on idioms a while back. During that discussion, we ended up having to cut a lot of the content we had prepared. In particular, there was a…
- Why We Do What We Do
Gambling pt. 1
One behavioral addiction of the "inessential" variety is gambling. This is an issue that has ruined many lives and pumped a lot of money into the city of Las…
- Why We Do What We Do
Mini: Burning Books
Book burning has been used both to destroy cultures or just symbolically send a message. Either way, it is a pretty juvenile temper tantrum thing to do. Don't…
- Why We Do What We Do
Sex Addiction
You've seen the title of this episode, so now that we have your attention: sex addiction! What are the psychometric criteria by which sex becomes an addiction?…
- Why We Do What We Do
Mini: Shampoo
Humans haven't had shampoo for very long in our relative history. What about our ancestors, what did they do without shampoo? Animals don't seem to require…
- Why We Do What We Do
Harm Reduction
Humans have been engineering strategies to reduce the risks of life for as long as humans have been engineering everything. As it relates to addiction, harm…
- Why We Do What We Do
Mini: Why We Lottery
Welcome to our new episode format, the mini! Although this is our second one, we are still excited to be exploring this new way of doing episodes. This…
- Why We Do What We Do
War on Drugs
The saga continues as we explore the historical policy blunder that was the "War on Drugs." What lead to the development of this idea? We review the…
- Why We Do What We Do
Mini: Clapping
Welcome to our first ever new episode format that we are trying out. These miniature episodes will be supplemental, additional episodes that we release every…
- Why We Do What We Do
The Disease Model of Addiction
The disease model of addiction is a popular philosophical approach to dependency. The idea is to remove fault and blame from the addicted individual. Further…
- Why We Do What We Do
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcohol dependency is a complicated condition that has killed a staggering number of people. Fortinuately, many people have banded together to support one…
- Why We Do What We Do
Addiction: The Beginning
Most people are only one or two nodes away from someone who has struggled with some sort of addiction, or may struggle themselves. But what is this phenomenon?…
- Why We Do What We Do
In the Event of The Apocalypse
Have you thought about what you'll do if a significant disaster destroys most of humankind? Perhaps you've prepared for the zombie apocalypse or a nuclear…
- Why We Do What We Do
Nostalgia: Aphantasia (Thinking Without Pictures)
This re-run updates a previous episode on our musings about what aphantasia is, and the purpose of diagnoses. This condition describes people who can't see…
- Why We Do What We Do
Mind-Body, Problem?
Psychologists and philosophers speculated for centuries trying to understand how the conscious experience of the mind relates to the physical substrate of the…
- Why We Do What We Do
Speaking Behaviorese
Technical and professional jargon can be furstratingly opaque and many professionals lament the frequent use of technical speak. However, there is a benefit to…
- Why We Do What We Do
Generational Characteristics
Kids these days...but what does that mean? Have kids changed over time? Many people believe that there is something to say about the different "generations."…
- Why We Do What We Do
24 and Me
Down Syndrome is a genetic condition with some characteristic features and complications. We explain how this condition occurs, the history, features of the…
- Why We Do What We Do
Right to Work Laws
Unions are grouops of employees who band together to form an allied unit that works to support its members in a work environment. This usually results in…
- Why We Do What We Do
Life and Death Drive
What do we do what we do? Because we do! That's the thesis of the life and death drive. We explain and dismantal this little known hypothesis of behavior…
- Why We Do What We Do
Why I'm Not Doing Something Else Right Now
Science and quantitiative model nerds, this is for you! Or maybe not... We explain the mathematical model that purports to explain choice-making. We enumerate…
- Why We Do What We Do
Artificial Intelligence with Joseph Dailey
Engineering student and behaviorist Joseph Dailey joins us to talk about artificial intelligence: where it came from, where it is going, and what it can tell…
- Why We Do What We Do
Handwriting Analysis
Humans have long been interested with shortcuts for peering into the enigma of the mind. Further, we search desperately for any clues that can help us identify…
- Why We Do What We Do
Three Meals Per Day
Three meals per day has been so ingrained in western (and other cultures) for so long that it seems like it might be a biological requirement for humans. But…
- Why We Do What We Do
2023 That's a Wrap
Happy New Year! This is a re-cap of the year we just completed. What we talked about in the various episodes this year, what we read and watched, in memorium…
- Why We Do What We Do
Brainwashed
Give that cerebrum a good scrubbing. There are two conditions under which we can get a handle on the phenomenon of brainwashing: What conditions produce the…
- Why We Do What We Do
Talented Genius
Think of the most talented person you have ever known or known about. Now think about what it means to say that that person is talented. In this discussion, we…
- Why We Do What We Do
Uncanny
The uncanny valley started as a futurists fear about the future of robotics. But we have seen multiple instances of unsettling imagery in CGI that has us…
- Why We Do What We Do
Social Media Influencers
Everybody wants to influence the world (to the tune of Tears for Fears). Being an influencer is one of the most enticing jobs out there for many people right…
- Why We Do What We Do
Nostalgia: Bystander Effect
Let's take a trip back in time to our discussion on the bystander effect, as well as an update on what has happened in research since. What other variables can…
- Why We Do What We Do
The TSA in the USA pt. 2
Most people report feeling that the TSA is successfully protecting against threats. Are they right? Some argue that not flying pushes people toward driving…
- Why We Do What We Do
The TSA in the USA pt. 1
Transportation is an enormous part of any economy. Airplanes are one of the more recent inventions that have changed the landscape of security around the…
- Why We Do What We Do
Internet Trolls
What makes someone a troll? We are all a little bit troll-y sometimes. We dive into how and why it works, when it is good and bad, and a brief history of…
- Why We Do What We Do
Evil Shenanigans
Why are some people evil? What is evil anyway? Is evil even real? We discuss the philosophy of what evil is and why it occurs... if it occurs. Recommendations…
- Why We Do What We Do
Satanic Panic
In the 1970s in the US and other parts of the world, a great fear was blossoming in the hearts of normal, every day people. The very real threat of the…
- Why We Do What We Do
Psatanism
Spooky season 2023 continues with this dive in to actual Satanism. It is a lot newer than you might think. Also, there are different kinds of satanism broadly…
- Why We Do What We Do
Left-Hand Path Magic
Welcome to our spooky, Halloween-themed kick-off! We went even more specific than usual and will be talking about Satan the whole month of October. Have you…
- Why We Do What We Do
Color "Blind"
What does the world look like when you are color deficient? Why are more men color deficient than women? Can glasses really help color deficient people see?…
- Why We Do What We Do
Professional Wrestling
Sorry for Abraham's poor mic quality this episode! It'll be back to normal next time. Why do people become pro wrestlers? Why do people watch professional…
- Why We Do What We Do
Breaux
David Henry Breaux was a kind, beloved person with a tragic story. In a rare instance of profiling a single individual, we use this inspiring story to talk…