Why We Do What We Do
Episodes
190 | Why We Believe in Money
30 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When was the last time you thought about money? Chances are pretty recently, if not right before you read this. If you weren’t thinking about money ...
189 | Conversion "Therapy" is a No
23 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Conversion "therapy" is predicated on the wrongheaded idea that (a) there is something wrong with people of non-traditional binary sexual identity or ...
188 | Real Fake Medicine
16 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Placebos emerged as a standard pharmaceutical research practice as a way of testing out the efficacy of novel treatments with various illnesses. This ...
187 | Gaslighting
09 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
People have been manipulating one another for most of human history. But the term for this kind of manipulation and abuse is fairly new. Coined in a p...
186 | Translating Reality
02 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Interpretation comes in several forms such as translating between languages, interpreting behavioral phenomena, and analyzing data. While we may belie...
185 | Drunk Tank Pink
25 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Many believe you can manipulate colors to influence thoughts and emotions. This is kind of a little bit true. Mostly because clever PR people can leve...
184 | Holding Back Tears: How to Resist Crying
18 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Although surveys show that men do tend to cry more than women, that disparity disappears when you examine cultures in which crying is not considered t...
183 | Handedness and Personality or Just Handedness
11 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Handedness is both genetic and environmentally determined. Consider that left-handedness was demonized by many cultures, and subsequently, many tools ...
182 | How to Protest Safely
04 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Protests have been a human practice for probably as long as we have had civilized groups. This practice is when a group of people unite to actively fo...
181 | The Dead Preserved
28 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The practice of mummifying the dead was a process that was prevalent in ancient Egypt and practiced in various forms in several areas of the world for...
180 | Possessed: Exorcisms
21 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Exorcisms are a dangerous practice that have killed people. We explore the history of exorcisms, how they work, what to expect, and why we should avoi...
179 | Witch Trials
14 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Mystic healing practices existed in many cultures for a large proportion of human history. But for a few hundred years, people, mostly women, were tor...
178 | Afraid of the Dark
07 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There are potential evolutionary reasons for fear of darkness, but our language also plays a role. This specific fear, nyctophobia, is relatively inno...
177 | Why I Am A Green Party Supporter (BONUS!)
02 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green Party. For this and the next episode, we sit down and interview everyday citizens who are registered to one o...
176 | Why I Am A Libertarian
30 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green Party. For this and the next episode, we sit down and interview everyday citizens who are registered to one o...
175 | Why I Am A Republican
23 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green Party. For this and the next two episodes, we sit down and interview everyday citizens who are registered to ...
174 | Why I Am A Democrat
16 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green Party. For this and the next three episodes, we sit down and interview everyday citizens who are registered t...
173 | Euphemisms: You Know What This Means
09 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Euphemisms act as selected by a given verbal community often as an alternative to a subject that has been regarded as touchy, uncomfortable, or politi...
172 | How to Learn Anything!
02 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It's never too late to learn something new! Learning and teaching are inherently linked, so we spend some time reviewing the best most-evidence based ...
171 | Anti-Racism
26 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Black Lives Matter.Special guests Jelisa Scott and Mawule Sevon talk anti-racism and growing up with dark skin in the United States. Links for Today: ...
170 | The Hawthorne Effect
19 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Workplace performance, be it group or an individual, is something that has been studied for decades. Nearly 100 years ago, a series of studies on work...
169 | Artificial Intelligence
12 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a nebulous concept and can mean many things. It's unlikely we should be afraid of the future of AI, but just in case, ...
168 | Syphilis Part 2
05 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There is a very unfortunate history of the science of syphilis. One of our great shames is the Tuskegee experiments. However, we also bust a few myths...
167 | Syphilis Part 1
29 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Syphilis emerged about 500 years ago as a menacing sexually transmitted disease that quickly transcended cultures and remained a present menace until ...
166 | Stockholme Syndrome
22 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Stockholm Syndrome has been a common area of study for close to 50 years following an infamous 1973 bank robbery incident in Sweden. The widely public...
165 | Human Nature
15 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
"Human nature" is often used as an excuse, explanation, justification, or assumption for the good and bad things that we do. Although we can make gene...
164 | Would a Head Transplant Work?
08 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Someone suffering from severe muscle-wasting diseases or other muscular or bone-degenerative diseases that aren't neurological might very much like a ...
163 | Can You Feel Yourself Being Watched?
01 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Many scientists and the general population have wondered for over 100 years if we possess a “sixth sense” that alerts us to when someone is starin...
162 | Why Do We Dream?
24 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Dreams are influenced by environmental stimuli. There are many theories for why we dream, but how we dream is more interesting anyway. Also, there is ...
161 | Board Games
17 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Board games are activities with no particular output. Abraham gets passionate about his favorite topic. There are several recommendations for various ...
160 | Why Do We Kiss Each Other?
10 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We support Black Lives Matter. We recorded this well before the protests began, so nothing is related to the current protests in this episode. Neverth...
159 | Masturbation: The Original DIY
03 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We support Black Lives Matter. We recorded this well before the protests began, so nothing is related to the current protests in this episode. Neverth...
158 | Distracted Driving
27 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
People drive distractedly because we get fluent at it, because it is boring, and because there is little to no adverse consequence for doing so. Our p...
157 | Motivated Reasoning
20 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
One of our most common biases is our motivation to rationalize our way through contradictory evidence. This might have an evolutionary advantage. Howe...
156 | Why? Our 3-Year Anniversary With Special Guests!
13 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
During our live stream event, the whole team got together to discuss human behavior and ask "why?" Why we ask the question why, why we are gross, why ...
155 | Addicted to Social Media Part 2
06 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In the second part of this discussion, we elaborate on variables that motivate engagement with social media. Furthermore, we consider who is accountab...
154 | Addicted to Social Media
29 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
86% of the world’s population use social media daily, from every culture and walk of life imaginable. Social media has offered us a way to keep in t...
153 | Triage: The Best Idea Ever?
22 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Triage is a system of sorting people into categories of priority. Although it seems like common-sense, it had to start somewhere and its current form ...
152 | Why and How We Grieve
15 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The "stages" of grief that you may have heard of have gotten a bad reputation because there was a misunderstanding that the proposal was that those ar...
151 | Montessori Schooling (Part 2)
08 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In a more thorough analysis of the history of Montessori schools, we uncovered regulations that may have inadvertently forced dilution of the possible...
150 | Montessori Schooling (Part 1)
01 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This episode will walk you through the history and development of Maria Montessori’s method of education. Her pedagogy focuses on two fundamental ap...
149 | Understanding Dyslexia
25 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The rise in incidents of dyslexia is likely due to better awareness and diagnostic tools, as well as increased emphasis in schools on reading skills. ...
148 | False Memories: The Mandela Effect
18 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Is it Jiff Peanut Butter or Jiffy Peanut Butter? Turns out, Vader never said, "Luke, I am your father." Retellings that become popular that incorrectl...
147 | Criminal Profiling
11 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Authority has long tried to narrow the pool of suspects in a crime. Eventually, police turned to psychologists to help understand the person so that t...
146 | Right and Left Brain Personality
04 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Most people know that the right brain left brain personality attribution is a silly myth. But do you know where it comes from? Largely started out of ...
145 | Imposter Syndrome
26 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Why do some accomplished people feel insecure about themselves? Turns out the vast majority of people who have achieved fame, success, responsibility,...
144 | Default Mode Network of the Brain
19 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Popular neuropsychology has identified that there is increased activity in a particular network of the brain when we are "at rest." The question we as...
143 | How to Tell if Someone is Flirting With You | Why We Do What We Do
12 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Turns out we are absolutely abysmal at determining if someone is trying to flirt with us. To begin with, it is important to note that flirting is abou...
142 | Altruism | Why We Do What We Do
05 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Do intentions matter to determine if an action is altruistic? Depends on who you ask. Actually, historical writers on altruism are fraught with subjec...
141 | Are Kids Losing Their Attention Span? | Why We Do What We Do
29 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Yet another generation of fussy adults are concerned about how kids are so distracted these days that they have atomically-sized attention spans, riva...
140 | Sensory Integration Therapy | Why We Do What We Do
22 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Likey to ruffle some feathers, this episode is a discussion about the science of the sensory integration therapy approach. This is NOT an indictment ...
139 | Berserkers | Why We Do What We Do
15 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Berserkers may or may not have been real people. There is evidence to suggest they did exist. But they were elite warriors who belonged to a tribal li...
138 | Why People Do Stupid Things (Part 2) | Why We Do What We Do
08 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This continues and concludes our discussion on why people do the "stupid" things that they do. Again, mostly they don't. This was particularly challen...
137 | Why People Do Stupid Things (Part 1) | Why We Do What We Do
01 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Happy New Year! To keep this a fun and easy episode, we simply enumerated some things that people do that appear to be "stupid." In an exercise in pe...
136 | Psychedelics in Therapy With Stu Law (Part 3) | Why We Do What We Do
25 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Happy Holidays! We didn't mention the holidays when we recorded because I wasn't sure what the publishing schedule was going to be at the time that we...
135 | Psychedelics in Therapy With Stu Law (Part 2) | Why We Do What We Do
18 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We follow our conversation from the previous episode with a discussion more about how psychedelics work on our psychology through our language. This i...
134 | Psychedelics in Therapy With Stu Law (Part 1) | Why We Do What We Do
11 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Psychedelics have an interesting history in medicinal uses. They have been used for good and for ill. This discussion is both optimistic and cautiona...
133 | Prion Diseases | Why We Do What We Do
04 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Prions are misfolded proteins that mostly occur in the brain. Prions can cause other proteins to misfold, which rots the brain away and results in dea...
132 | The Ghosts of Limbs Past: Phantom Limb Pain | Why We Do What We Do
27 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When a limb is lost or removed, most people report feeling a sensation of pain in the area where that body part used to be... even though it's gone! L...
131 | Lead Poisoning Our Brains | Why We Do What We Do
20 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Lead has been used as cosmetics, sweetener, a contraceptive, and a host of other things. We even discovered it was detrimental to our health, but ramp...
130 | The Psychology of Humor (Our Funniest Episode Ever!) | Why We Do What We Do
13 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Special guest, Stu Law, has studied humor and comedy as a hobby and somewhat more directly in his career. He has evaluated what makes us laugh and com...
129 | Tapping Meridian Points | Why We Do What We Do
06 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Serious psychologists have recommended using tapping meridian points as legitimate psychological therapy. So we decided to explore the history and sci...
128 | Zombie Bugs | Why We Do What We Do
30 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Our final Halloween themed episode dives into real-life zombies. Besides being horrifyingly disturbing, these brainless parasites pose an interesting...
127 | Sleep Paralysis: Demons and Ghosts in the Night | Why We Do What We Do
23 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The penultimate installment of our creepy psychology themed month of October is a breakdown of sleep paralysis. The experience we have when we begin ...
126 | Where Our Superstitions Come From | Why We Do What We Do
16 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Our third installment of our creepy psychology themed month of October discusses what superstitions are and where they come from. Furthermore, even pe...
125 | Why People Like Horror Movies | Why We Do What We Do
09 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
People watch scary movies around Halloween and other times of the year. Many horror films are produced every year. What is this strange fascination th...
124 | Crying Wolf: Clinical Lycanthropy | Why We Do What We Do
02 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Clinical Lycanthropy is the mental health condition in which people believe that they turn into an animal of some kind, commonly werewolves. The evide...
123 | Seizure Disorders | Why We Do What We Do
25 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Our brains are a complex network of neurons that connect all of the parts of our body together. So if the electrochemical signals fire sporadically th...
122 | Brain Food | Why We Do What We Do
18 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Many people make exaggerated claims about the neurological benefits of specific foods and then charge you for their consultation expertise, their diet...
121 | A Brief Introduction to Punishment | Why We Do What We Do
11 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Punishment is neither good nor bad, but it can be positive or negative. Puzzle that one out! There is a technical use o of the term and concept of pun...
120 | Sign Language With Primates | Why We Do What We Do
04 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Many point to the uniqueness of humans in their language. Others suggest that we just haven't found a way to teach language to other species. This all...
119 | Twin Studies | Why We Do What We Do
28 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Twin studies have been a staple in psychological research for over a century. But many people don't know about the critical assumptions implicit in co...
118 | Positive and Negative Reinforcement in Schools | Why We Do What We Do
21 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Students experience positive and negative reinforcement throughout their school day. Some of this reinforcement is specifically delivered by teachers,...
117 | Who Still Uses Behavior Modification? | Why We Do What We Do
14 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Recent pundits have voiced their alarm and concern over the use of behavior modification strategies to create "addictive" patterns of behavior. Who ar...
116 | Why Are Some People Picky Eaters? | Why We Do What We Do
07 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Why are some people picky eaters, while others are adventurous? Is it evolution? Parenting? Some combination of the two? This isn't a discussion on in...
115 | Leaning Over the Edge: The Call of the Void | Why We Do What We Do
31 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Many of us have had the experience of looking over the edge and wondering what it would be like to jump or fall. We don't actually want to, but we are...
114 | A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Rock 'N Roll: The Psychology of Music Preference | Why We Do What We Do
24 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
People often have seemingly inexplicable taste in music. What is it that that drives us toward our music preferences? Have you ever felt persecuted fo...
113 | You Know Less Than You Think: The Dunning-Kruger Effect | Why We Do What We Do
17 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A common cognitive bias we have is that we tend to think that we are better informed and experienced in things that we really are. The examples are pr...
112 | Expelled: Racial Inequality in School Discipline | Why We Do What We Do
10 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Schools might be as segregated today as they have ever been. Learn more with Dr. Kent McIntosh as he lends his expertise on racial inequality (disprop...
111 | Too Many Choices! Option Paralysis | Why We Do What We Do
03 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes we find ourselves faced with so many options that we choose to do nothing at all. What is with going on with that? Shane and Abraham discuss...
110 | Diagnosing Mental Health Disorders | Why We Do What We Do
26 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most controversial and interesting topics in psychology is understanding how we diagnose mental health disorders. Shane and Abraham explain...
109 | The Downfall of Mental Hospitals | Why We Do What We Do
19 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The setting: terrible hospital conditions and a poor understanding of mental health disorders. The solution: move patients out of the hospitals and in...
108 | How to Study | Why We Do What We Do
12 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Cramming for a test? Find yourself struggling to remember things that you just ready when studying for class? Just interested in getting better at a p...
107 | Child Development Part 2: Birth Through the First Two Years | Why We Do What We Do
05 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Returning for a second discussion of the initial stages of human development, RyanO and Abraham discuss the various birthing processes. In addition, ...
106 | Child Development Part 1: Pregnancy | Why We Do What We Do
29 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Abraham and RyanO discuss some remarkable facts about pregnancy and how learning begins while in the womb. There are basic facts and conceptual issues...
105 | What's Going On With Weighted Vests? | Why We Do What We Do
22 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Some people use clothing with weights added on children to “help” them manage their challenging behaviors. This is commonly used with children wit...
104 | Why We Do What We Do Turns 2! | Why We Do What We Do
15 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Bullying is an interesting problem in schools. What is it? Is it over-recognized or under-recognized? What works in reducing bullying? This week we ar...
103 | Bullying in Schools with Dr. Scott Ross and Brooke Wagner | Why We Do What We Do
08 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Bullying is an interesting problem in schools. What is it? Is it over-recognized or under-recognized? What works in reducing bullying? This week we ar...
102 | Did Behaviorism Kill Research on Emotions? | Why We Do What We Do
01 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Author Frans De Waal claimed on national radio that behaviorism killed research on emotions for most of the 20th century. What a remarkable achievemen...
101 | Multi-Tasking is Hard | Why We Do What We Do
24 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How well can humans multi-task? A lot less than we'd like to believe. Shane and Abraham describe what is really going on when we try and multi-task, w...
100 | Fad Treatments for Autism | Why We Do What We Do
19 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week Shane, RyanO and Abraham welcome on the ABA Inside Track crew for our 100th episode covering some of the weirdest, ineffective, and potentia...
099 | How We Know What We Know | Why We Do What We Do
10 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week Shane, RyanO and Abraham tackle Epistemology - or the study of how we know what we know! Remember that you can reach us directly at 775.525....
098 | Homeopathy Treatment for Mental Health | Why We Do What We Do
05 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Remember that you can reach us directly at 775.525.0908, at [email protected], through the comments below OR on social via @wwdwwdpodcast or #wwd...
097 | I'm So Sorry! Why We Apologize | Why We Do What We Do
29 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Apologizing is an interesting thing that we do. What do we get out of apologizing? What do we get out receiving them? Abraham and Shane discuss how an...
096 | The Mozart Effect | Why We Do What We Do
20 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week Abraham and RyanO talk about the Mozart effect, which suggests that "listening to Mozart (and some other iterations!) makes you smarter." Li...
095 | How Alcohol Makes Us Feel Drunk | Why We Do What We Do
15 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Every wonder why and how alcohol makes us feel drunk? Ryan and Abraham explain what is in alcohol and how it interacts with our brain to cause us to f...
094 | False Confessions | Why We Do What We Do
07 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Shane and Abraham tackle the how and why of false confessions. Why do people "confess" to crimes they didn't commit? To what extent do law enforcement...
093 | Animal Aggression Part 2 With Hannah Branigan & Ryan Cartlidge | Why We Do What We Do
01 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This episode we continue our fascinating discussion with Hannah Branigan of the "Drinking from the Toilet" podcast, and Ryan Cartlidge of the "Animal ...
BONUS | Join the Team! | Why We Do What We Do
25 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We’re looking for some assistance on the podcast. If you think you fit what we’re looking for, then send us an email! Listen in, and remember that...
092 | Animal Aggression Part 1 With Hannah Branigan & Ryan Cartlidge | Why We Do What We Do
21 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week we welcome on Hannah Branigan and Ryan Cartlidge to talk about animal aggression. Make sure to check out their podcasts: https://wonderpupst...