Ep 37: Talking with patients about sad, bad and difficult things
PsychCrunch
This is Episode 37 of PsychCrunch, the podcast of the British Psychological Society’s Research Digest, sponsored by Routledge Psychology. [Content warning: This episode centres around cancer. As such, it makes references to medical events and themes that some listeners may find disturbing. Listener discretion is advised.] In the face of significant medical challenges, we would all hope for compassionate, informative communication from medical professionals and those close to us. Sometimes, though, the reality falls short of that expectation. This episode, Editor of The Psychologist, Dr Jon...
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Ep 36: The secrets of dreams and nightmares
PsychCrunch
This is Episode 36 of PsychCrunch, the podcast of the British Psychological Society’s Research Digest, sponsored by Routledge Psychology. Why do we dream? And what business does a good dream have turning into a nightmare? In this episode, Ella Rhodes embarks on an exploration of our non-waking life. In it, she speaks with Director of the Swansea University Sleep Laboratory, Professor Mark Blagrove, about his research and latest theories about the origins of dreams. Research Clinical Psychologist Dr Bryony Sheaves of Oxford University also shares her expert insights into why we have...
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Ep 35: Why do we enjoy playing with fear?
PsychCrunch
This is Episode 35 of PsychCrunch, the podcast of the British Psychological Society’s Research Digest, sponsored by Routledge Psychology. From haunted houses to scary movies, many of us find a thrill in a good scare. But… isn’t that a bit counter-intuitive? In this episode, we ask why so many of us are drawn to things that should make us run a mile, and whether we can use fear to help us better cope with day-to-day anxiety. Host Ella Rhodes speaks with Director of The Recreational Fear Lab, Dr Mathias Clasen, and Cambridge University PhD student Lucie Daniel-Watanabe to discover why fear...
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Ep 34: How do you make friends as an adult?
PsychCrunch
This is Episode 34 of PsychCrunch, the podcast of the British Psychological Society’s Research Digest, sponsored by Routledge Psychology. Despite it being easier than ever to communicate, so many of us find it challenging to make new friends – especially as we get older. Opening up conversations with strangers can leave us feeling like a bother, and fizzle into nothing more than a one-off interaction. The loneliness this can create isn’t just a passing sting, it can have ongoing impacts to both our mental and physical health. So, in this episode, Ginny Smith asks: just how do we make...
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Ep 33: Have you experienced the unseen other?
PsychCrunch
Have you ever had the feeling that there was someone – or something – nearby? Perhaps you were in bed falling asleep when you suddenly became convinced that a person was standing next to you, even though you couldn’t actually ‘see’ or ‘hear’ anyone at all. Or maybe you were out in the wilderness, with no-one for miles around, and couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was following you. In this episode, Dr Jon Sutton, editor of The Psychologist magazine, talks to , Associate Professor at Durham University, about the phenomenon of the 'felt presence' – that often eerie...
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Ep 32: How to face grief
PsychCrunch
Grief is a universal experience, but one which affects every individual differently. A grieving person might feel guilty, listless, frightened, or angry. And at a time when they most need support, the bereaved may find other people turning away from them, not really knowing how to talk to them about their feelings and the person they’ve lost. So how can we learn to better cope with grief in ourselves and in others? In this episode, Ella Rhodes, journalist for The Psychologist, speaks to two experts who are working to help us understand how people process grief and what can be done to support...
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Ep 31: How to better understand your cat
PsychCrunch
We’ve lived side-by-side with domestic cats for thousands of years, yet they maintain an aura of mystery and a reputation for aloofness and even outright disdain for humans. But are cats really so enigmatic – or are we only just beginning to understand them? In this episode, Ella Rhodes, journalist for The Psychologist, speaks to two experts who are working to help us to understand cats. They discuss research on cat cognition and intelligence, chat about what we can do how to make our cats’ lives happier, and even share some tips on how to train them. Our guests are , assistant professor...
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Ep 30: The psychology of superstitions
PsychCrunch
From carefully avoiding cracks in the pavement to saluting every magpie that you meet, superstitious behaviour is really common. But why do we have superstitions? Where do they come from? And are they helpful or harmful? To find out, our presenter talks to , former professor of psychology at Connecticut College and author of Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition. Ginny also chats to , professor of communication at the University of California Davis, who explains how superstition and magical thinking is linked to being a fan of both fiction and sports. Episode...
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Ep 29: Why do people share false information — and what can we do about it?
PsychCrunch
Why do people share false information? In this episode, our presenters and Jon Sutton explore the psychology of misinformation. They hear about the factors that make people more or less likely to share misinformation, discuss strategies to correct false information, and learn how to talk to someone who is promoting conspiracy theories. Our guests, in order of appearance, are , Professor of Psychology at the University of Westminster, and , senior research scientist at Northeastern University’s Network Science Institute. Episode credits: Presented and produced by Ginny...
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Ep 28: Why songs get stuck in our heads
PsychCrunch
In this episode, our presenter Ginny Smith explores the psychology of earworms. Ginny hears about the possible evolutionary reasons for why we experience the phenomenon, learns what earworms can teach us about memory — and finds out how to get rid of them.
info_outlineThis is Episode 19 of PsychCrunch, the podcast from the British Psychological Society’s Research Digest, sponsored by Routledge Psychology.
Do we worry too much about screen time? The issue of screen use by children and teenagers is rarely out of the headlines, and institutions including the World Health Organization have recommended specific limits on screen time for the youngest age groups. But what does the science actually say about the effects of screen time?
To find out, our presenter Ella Rhodes talks to Dr Amy Orben, Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge and winner of the 2019 BPS award for Outstanding Doctoral Research, who has explored the psychological effects of screen time in her research.
Episode credits: Presented and produced by Ella Rhodes, journalist for The Psychologist, with help from the Research Digest and Psychologist teams. Mixing and editing by Jeff Knowler. PsychCrunch theme music by Catherine Loveday and Jeff Knowler; additional music by Ketsa. Artwork by Tim Grimshaw.
Background resources for this episode:
Screen Time, Laptop Bans, and the Fears that Shape the Use of Technology for Learning, a paper by Dr Torrey Trust in the Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, is free to access thanks to our sponsors Routledge Psychology.
The work by Amy Orben and her colleagues discussed in this episode includes:
- The association between adolescent well-being and digital technology use
- Screens, Teens, and Psychological Well-Being: Evidence From Three Time-Use-Diary Studies
- How Much Is Too Much? Examining the Relationship Between Digital Screen Engagement and Psychosocial Functioning in a Confirmatory Cohort Study
- Social media’s enduring effect on adolescent life satisfaction
Here are the WHO guidelines on screen time mentioned at the beginning of the podcast.
Both The Psychologist and Research Digest have a number of articles on screen time and media effects, including:
The Psychologist Presents… Screen time debunked
A transcript of Professor Andrew Przybylski’s session with editor Jon Sutton at Latitude Festival in summer 2019.
Seeing screen time differently
Jon Sutton reports from a one-day event on research, policy and communication in a digital era, held out the Wellcome Collection in London in 2018.
'There are wolves in the forest…'
Professor Andrew Przybylski picks three myths around screen time – and how science, and some common sense, can help.
What is actually behind the screen?
Ella Rhodes reports on last year's parliamentary report from the Science and Technology Committee.
‘Games have helped me a lot throughout my life’
Annie Brookman-Byrne interviews Dr Pete Etchells, Reader in Psychology and Science Communication at Bath Spa University, about his book Lost in a Good Game: Why We Play Video Games and What They Can Do For Us.
Amy Orben honoured
Dr Orben wins the British Psychological Society's Award for Outstanding Doctoral Research.
Abstaining From Social Media Doesn’t Improve Well-Being, Experimental Study Finds
Hard-core players of violent video games do not have emotionally blunted brains