Psychology
- When famous findings fall apart
Many celebrated psychology results shrank or vanished when other scientists repeated the studies. Why that happened, and what the field changed.
- 9min read
- 11min listen
- 30questions
- What really happened in the Stanford prison
In 1971 Philip Zimbardo ran a mock prison in a Stanford basement and stopped it after six days. What he concluded, and what the archives showed in 2018.
- 8min read
- 11min listen
- 27questions
- The two speeds of thought
Why a quick answer can feel certain and still be wrong, what careful thinking costs, and when a gut feeling can be trusted.
- 9min read
- 11min listen
- 31questions
- How habits work
Why a habit is set off by a place or a cue and not by an intention, how long one takes to form, and what helps to change one.
- 8min read
- 10min listen
- 27questions
- The testing effect
Recalling an answer from memory strengthens it more than reading it again, so a quiz can teach as well as check.
- 6min read
- 9min listen
- 21questions
- Spaced repetition
The same hours of study last far longer spread out than done in one go. Why the gaps help, and how a review schedule sets them.
- 7min read
- 8min listen
- 20questions
- Emotion and motivation
Why a pounding heart can mean dread or delight, what a threat that never ends does to the body, and how a prize can spoil a pleasure.
- 9min read
- 10min listen
- 32questions
- Attention, sleep & consciousness
Why half of us miss a gorilla in plain view, what sets the clock that makes you sleepy, and what a night of sleep does in ninety-minute rounds.
- 9min read
- 10min listen
- 35questions
- Learning and conditioning
Pavlov’s metronome, Skinner’s pigeons, and why a slot machine is harder to walk away from than a vending machine.
- 9min read
- 10min listen
- 35questions
- How memory works
Why a name can sit on the tip of your tongue, why a vivid memory can be wrong, and what makes learning stick.
- 9min read
- 10min listen
- 36questions