Speaking of Psychology

Psychologists Ashleigh Golden and Rachel Wood discuss the rise of AI companions — what it means to form emotional bonds with artificial entities, how AI relationships affect human connection skills, and the psychological risks and benefits.

Health psychologist Kari Leibowitz discusses her research in Tromso, Norway, where residents experience two months of polar night yet report high well-being. The key: a 'wintertime mindset' that reframes winter as an opportunity for coziness, beauty, and rest.

UC Davis psychologist Stephen Garcia discusses what drives people to be extremely competitive — in work, relationships, and life. Research on the N-effect (more competitors reduce effort) and why being near the top or bottom of a ranking intensifies drive.

Harvard moral psychologist Joshua Greene discusses why people give to charity — and why their giving patterns are often irrational. The identifiable victim effect, scope insensitivity, and how moral intuitions evolved for small groups but fail at scale.

University of Chicago environmental neuroscientist Marc Berman explains Attention Restoration Theory — how natural environments restore the cognitive resources depleted by urban and digital environments. Why even brief exposure to nature improves attention, mood, and creativity.

UNC developmental psychologist Andrea Hussong discusses the science of gratitude — how it develops in children, why forced gratitude backfires, and how authentic gratitude practice produces measurable improvements in well-being, relationships, and physical health.

Misophonia researcher Heather Hansen explains the condition where specific sounds (chewing, tapping, breathing) trigger intense emotional and physiological reactions. Why it's not just 'being annoyed' — it's a neurological condition with emerging treatments.

Health psychologist Rachel Goldman discusses the psychological dimensions of GLP-1 medications — how they affect not just appetite but identity, food obsession, body image, and the emotional relationship with eating.

UC Irvine attention researcher Gloria Mark discusses how digital technology has compressed our attention spans — from 2.5 minutes on a screen in 2004 to just 47 seconds today. Why multitasking is a myth, and how to reclaim focused attention.

The proliferation of psychological terminology in everyday conversation — 'boundaries,' 'gaslighting,' 'trauma response,' 'narcissist.' When therapeutic language helps people understand their experiences and when it becomes a weapon or a way to avoid accountability.

Vanderbilt psychologist Bunmi Olatunji discusses the emotions driving anxiety disorders, how to distinguish normal anxiety from pathological anxiety, and why exposure therapy remains the gold standard treatment despite its counterintuitive approach.

Durham University psychologist Fuschia Sirois reframes procrastination as an emotion regulation problem, not a time management problem. We procrastinate to avoid negative emotions associated with a task, and self-compassion — not self-criticism — is the most effective antidote.

University of Toronto psychologist Nicholas Rule discusses how the brain forms judgments about other people in milliseconds — before conscious awareness. How accurate these snap judgments are, how they're shaped by stereotypes, and why they're so resistant to change.

University of Michigan addiction researcher Lara Coughlin discusses contingency management — the most effective behavioral treatment for stimulant addiction (cocaine, methamphetamine). Why offering tangible, immediate rewards for abstinence works better than traditional talk therapy.

Exploring the psychological pathways to extremism — why ordinary people adopt extreme beliefs. Research on the need for significance, cognitive closure, and social identity as drivers of radicalization.

Clinical psychologists Dean McKay and OCD advocate Uma Chatterjee discuss what OCD actually is — a debilitating disorder driven by intrusive thoughts and compulsive rituals — and how it differs from the popular stereotype of 'being organized.'

Research on how excessive screen time — particularly social media — affects mental health, sleep, body image, and social development. The evidence is nuanced: not all screen time is equal, and the effects depend on what you're doing, when, and instead of what.

From hurricanes to wildfires to gun violence, trauma and disaster affect millions of children each year. A child psychologist discusses how disasters impact children differently than adults, and evidence-based strategies for supporting children through traumatic events.

Research on social contagion — how ideas, behaviors, emotions, and products spread through social networks. Why some things go viral and others don't, and how network structure determines transmission more than content quality.

Martin Seligman, the founder of positive psychology, discusses what his field has learned from the pandemic years — how resilience, learned helplessness, and PERMA (Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment) framework apply to collective trauma.

Following the Surgeon General's advisory on loneliness, psychologists discuss why chronic loneliness is as dangerous to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. The neuroscience of social pain, why modern life produces isolation, and evidence-based interventions.

Developmental psychologist Roberta Golinkoff discusses how screens, apps, and digital media affect children's cognitive, social, and language development. When technology helps and when it hinders, and why the quality of digital interaction matters more than screen time quantity.

A neuropsychologist explains the brain basis of Tourette disorder — involuntary motor and vocal tics driven by basal ganglia dysfunction — and how recent behavioral therapies (CBIT) are helping patients manage tics without medication.

The psychology of cold weather — how temperature affects cognition, mood, social behavior, and decision-making. Research showing that physical warmth and social warmth share neural pathways, and how winter challenges and opportunities differ across cultures.

Social psychologist Stephen Garcia discusses how competition shapes behavior in work, relationships, and everyday life. Why fewer competitors make you try harder, and when competition helps versus harms performance.

Psycholinguist Viorica Marian presents research on how bilingualism reshapes the brain: enhanced executive function, delayed dementia onset, and a fundamentally different way of perceiving reality.