First Aired: February 27th, 2017
Status: Continuing
Network: YouTube
Summary: Twice a week, SciShow Psych digs into the science of...us! SciShow Psych is all about the human brain and how we humans interact with the world.
Hosts Hank Green and Brit Garner explain ground-breaking studies and contextualize psychology throughout history.
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Season 2019
Episode 7: How to Clear Your Mind
Air Date: January 24th, 2019
Summary: Your brain is hard-wired to do all sorts of things when you are not consciously thinking about something. But just because it’s normal for your mind to wander doesn’t mean that it’s always good! Luckily, once you know how it works, you can find ways to control it.
Episode 13: You're More Likeable Than You Think!
Air Date: February 14th, 2019
Summary: Meeting new people is exciting, but also kind of overwhelming and you might have found yourself wondering if they really liked you. But turns out, they do really like you most of the time, and you might be just too hard on yourself.
Episode 20: How to Turn Anxiety Into Excitement
Air Date: March 11st, 2019
Summary: Sometimes excitement can feel more like anxiety, and it turns out that they aren't that unrelated. Understanding the automatic reaction in our brains and changing our interpretation of the source might help us actually turn that anxiety into excitement.
Episode 29: Why You Really Love That Wobbly Table
Air Date: April 11st, 2019
Summary: Multiple studies have shown that people assign a higher value to something they "made" themselves, even if they only picked out the color or tightened a few screws. Why does that happen? Psychologists have a few theories.
Episode 32: When Everything Feels Like a Dream - Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder
Air Date: April 22nd, 2019
Summary: It's not rare to feel like we're dreaming, even right after we wake up, but when it sticks around for longer than it should, it can merit its own diagnosis - depersonalization-derealization disorder (DDD). Hank unpacks what this disorder is and how scientists and doctors are working to understand and treat it.
Episode 43: Groups That Chant Together, Stay Together
Air Date: May 30th, 2019
Summary: If you've ever been part of a huge crowd, like at a sporting event, you've probably seen people clap, sing, and chant together in sync. How do big groups of individuals all manage to do the same thing at the same time, even when there's no one leading them? Well, it turns out, they kind of can't help it!
Episode 46: Why Are Feelings So Complicated?! - Compilation
Air Date: June 10th, 2019
Summary: Emotions are really complicated and interesting, which is why we’ve talked about them a lot here on SciShow Psych. In fact, we’ve talked about them so much that we’ve made a compilation of our favorite emotion-related videos!
Episode 47: What Do Mirror Neurons Really Do?
Air Date: June 17th, 2019
Summary: Mirror neurons are a very cool part of our brains but some people are taking it way further by making claims that they are responsible for telepathy and ESP. It goes without saying that this isn’t true, but what exactly do mirror neurons really do?
Episode 48: How We Manipulate Our Brains With Electricity
Air Date: June 20th, 2019
Summary: Obviously, you can’t just plant a chip in someone’s head and start manipulating their thoughts and behavior, but doctors and scientists CAN use electricity to activate or inhibit certain parts of the brain. And they can use this power to help treat serious medical conditions or mental disorders!
Episode 49: What Psychologists Can Tell You About Ghosting
Air Date: June 24th, 2019
Summary: Ghosting is when someone terminates a relationship by ending communications abruptly and without explanation. Whether or not you'd consider ghosting someone might have a lot to do with how you view relationships in general.
Episode 51: What People Get Wrong About Schizophrenia
Air Date: July 1st, 2019
Summary: This is a re-upload of a previous episode. It was brought to our attention that a portion of the video in which we simulated schizophrenic symptoms for the viewer could potentially be distressing for viewers who really do have schizophrenia. We at SciShow want our educational resources to be accessible by as many people as possible, so we made the decision to replace the previous video with an updated version. Thanks to astute viewer Paula for pointing out this issue to us, and thanks to all our viewers that help us think about the world more complexly!
Episode 52: Can You Actually Become More Emotionally Intelligent?
Air Date: July 4th, 2019
Summary: Emotional Intelligence is something that’s talked about more and more in management and professional development courses. It seems like this ability is important — which means that some researchers have tried to see if you can get better at it.
Episode 53: Houseplants Can (Probably) Make You Happier
Air Date: July 8th, 2019
Summary: Houseplants are great for decoration and cute Instagram pictures - plus they make for pretty chill roommates. As if that wasn’t enough, there is actually some evidence that houseplants can also be good for your mental health.
Episode 58: Why Do We Go All In on Lost Causes?
Air Date: July 25th, 2019
Summary: We've all experienced the sunk cost fallacy - when you are deep into a task and tell yourself that you’ve come this far, so you may as well finish it. We do this even if it's no longer logical to finish. So why do we do it?
Episode 61: The FOMO Is Real — But You Can Overcome It
Air Date: August 5th, 2019
Summary: FOMO (the fear of missing out) is a fairly common phenomenon, especially in this digital age. It can cause you significant stress and anxiety, but luckily psychologists have come up with a few tricks to combat it.
Episode 65: Are We Inherently Good?
Air Date: August 19th, 2019
Summary: Conventional wisdom might have you believe that human beings only really start showing empathy after a few years of learning social norms and morals. However, some research suggests that this kind of compulsion to do good might be innate. As in, there from birth. Do we act with altruism simply because we’re brought up to be kind, or is it something deeper?
Episode 67: Why We Like Bad News
Air Date: August 26th, 2019
Summary: Even if we say we prefer good news, we're wired to pay more attention to bad news.
And while it might feel like the world is becoming a more scary, dangerous place, many things are actually better now than ever, and social media might be the antidote to our fears.
Episode 69: What Do We Actually Know About Depression? - Compilation
Air Date: September 2nd, 2019
Summary: One of the topic that we've talked about the most is depression. It is a really complicated subject, so we’ve put together some of our episodes about depression to hopefully help you understand more about it.
Episode 72: What "Alien Abductions" Say About Our Brains
Air Date: September 16th, 2019
Summary: You’re on the internet, so you probably know that people sometimes claim to have been abducted by aliens. When researchers start to look closely at these stories and where they come from, they begin to realize that there might be something really interesting happening here psychologically.
Episode 74: What Slot Machines Can Tell Us About our Brains
Air Date: September 23rd, 2019
Summary: The rise of lootboxes in video games has led to numerous investigations seeking to establish just how close to gambling they are. While the science behind lootboxes is only just beginning to come in, we do know a lot about how other forms of gambling take advantage of your brain and your pocket book.
Episode 80: The Most Common Eating Disorder You've Never Heard Of
Air Date: October 14th, 2019
Summary: When you think about an eating disorder, you might imagine restricting or purging food. But the most common eating disorder has nothing to do with either of those, and chances are you’ve never heard of it.
Episode 85: Why Do Our Brains Have Distinct Hemispheres?
Air Date: October 31st, 2019
Summary: We used to think having a distinct left and right brain was something unique to humans. But brain lateralization has now been found in everything from chickens to spiders! Does this change our theories for why some brains work that way?
Episode 91: How Close Are We to Growing Brains in a Dish?
Air Date: November 21st, 2019
Summary: You may have heard about a study where researchers were able to grow lumps of neural tissue that showed measurable activity – a little bit like an actual brain. Are scientists trying to grow artificial brains, and if so, what kind of ethical questions are researchers asking?
Episode 93: 'Tis The Season for Snuggles - The Psychology of Cuffing Season
Air Date: November 28th, 2019
Summary: It’s wintertime in the Northern Hemisphere, which means cold weather, shorter days, and… new relationships? It’s known as cuffing season, and there are actual psychological reasons you may be more inclined to settle down with a romantic partner - at least until the snow melts.
Episode 95: How Psychology Can Explain the Deadly Medieval Dancing Plagues
Air Date: December 5th, 2019
Summary: From the 1200s through the 1600s, parts of Europe were afflicted with deadly, mysterious outbreaks of seemingly contagious, unstoppable dancing. While it's still unclear exactly why these "dancing plagues" happened, modern psychology may be able to provide some answers.
Episode 96: Why Do So Many People Fall for Robocalls and E-mail Scams?
Air Date: December 9th, 2019
Summary: Many robocalls and email scams are super blatantly obvious. Yet every year, people lose billions of dollars to these frauds - and the reasons why may be more psychologically devious than you think.
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