Psychology Press Podcast
Beginning September '06, we're releasing regular interviews with figures in the world of psychology, asking them about their fields of interest, opinions, and published works.
Show Six: Jamie Ward on Synesthesia - The Frog Who Croaked Blue
Wednesday 7th May, 2008
Everyone will be closely acquainted with at least 6 or 7 people who have synesthesia but you may not yet know who they are because, until very recently, synesthesia was largely hidden and unknown.
Now science is uncovering its secrets and the findings are leading to a radical rethink about how our senses are organized. In this timely and thought-provoking book, Jamie Ward argues that sensory mixing is the norm even though only a few of us cross the barrier into the realms of synesthesia.
Dr Jamie Ward is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sussex, UK, and is one of the world's leading experts on synesthesia.
His new book The Frog Who Croaked Blue explores synesthesia in a lucid and entertaining way, making it fascinating reading for anyone with an interest in the intriguing workings of the mind.
Running time: 29 minutes, 9 seconds
Show Five: Viren Swami Interview — The Psychology of Physical Attraction
Tuesday 4th December 2007
In this episode, we talk to Viren Swami, co-author of The Psychology of Physical Attraction.
Viren Swami is an evolutionary and social psychologist. He is the author of academic papers on, among other things, interpersonal attraction, gender roles and cross-cultural differences. He is also the author of The Missing Arms of Vénus de Milo, and has translated works of literature by George Orwell, Jorge Luis Borges and Franz Kafka into Malay.
Running time: 17 minutes, 12 seconds
Show Four: Action Slips — BBC Five Live interview with Dr. María Jónsdóttir
Friday 16th November 2007
Back in July, Psychology Press author Dr. María K. Jónsdóttir appeared on BBC Radio Five Live to talk about instances of absent-mindedness, or action slips.
Research by Dr. Jónsdóttir and colleagues from the University of Iceland and Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik is published in the article A Diary Study of Action Slips in Healthy Individuals, which appears in Volume 21, Issue 6 of The Clinical Neuropsychologist, the official journal of the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology, published by Psychology Press. This article is free to view until the end of November 2007.
This episode is introduced by Lucy Kennedy.
Many thanks to the BBC for allowing us to use the clip.
Running time: 4 minutes, 19 seconds
Show Three: Alan Baddeley Interview — Human Memory
Thursday 16th August 2007
Alan Baddeley is Professor of Psychology at York and one of the world's leading authorities on Human Memory. He is celebrated for devising the influential working memory model with Graham Hitch in the early 1970s; a model which still proves valuable today in recognising the functions of short-term memory. He is one of Psychology Press' most eminent authors, having written, among other things, two key memory textbooks: Essentials of Human Memory and Human Memory.
In this episode we talk to Alan Baddeley about how he came to be interested in memory research, and why his ground-breaking working memory model almost didn't see the light of day! We also discuss various mechanisms of memory such as what exactly happens when you experience déjà vu or when something is on the tip of your tongue, and we ask the expert for methods for improving the memory.
Running time: 25 minutes, 4 seconds
Show Two: Peter Herriot Interview — Religious Fundamentalism and Social Identity
Tuesday 30th January 2007
The attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in the United States of September 11th 2001 brought the phenomenon of religious fundamentalism to the world's attention.
Peter Herriot has spent most of his working life as an academic, as a visiting professor at the University of Surrey and at the Open University Business School. Since retiring, he has sought to apply social and organizational psychology to the understanding of religious fundamentalism.
In this podcast we talk to Peter Herriot about religious fundamentalism from a social psychological perspective, and about his new book, Religious Fundamentalism and Social Identity, which applies social identity theory to fundamentalism.
Case studies of Mohammed Atta, the leader of the 9/11 hijackers, and of the current controversy in the Anglican Church about gay priests and bishops, demonstrate how fruitfully this theory can be applied to fundamentalist conflicts.
We also provide a transcription of the interview with Peter Herriot to overcome accessibility problems if you have hearing difficulties (and for those of you who may just prefer to read the interview rather than listen to it).
Running time: 27 minutes, 6 seconds
Show One: Jamie Ward Interview — Cognitive Neuroscience
Monday 4th September 2006
In our first podcast episode, Lucy Kennedy interviews Jamie Ward, author of The Student's Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience.
Dr Jamie Ward is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Psychology, University College London and has researched and taught extensively in many areas of cognitive neuroscience.
He is a leading authority on the subject of synaesthesia and has contributed to a wider understanding of it in both academic and lay circles.
In this podcast we talk to Jamie Ward about the development of cognitive neuroscience, its portrayal in the media, his textbook The Student’s Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience, and the recent debate on the usefulness (or seductiveness!) of the "flickering lights" of fMRI.
We also provide a transcription of the interview with Jamie Ward to overcome accessibility problems if you have hearing difficulties (and for those of you who may just prefer to read the interview rather than listen to it).
Running time: 22 minutes, 6 seconds
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