Listen to Your Brain

A slick, nicely produced, and funny music video about neuromarketing. Dr. NeuroFocus and crew explain how they examine the brain’s functioning for more incisive market research, while singing and dancing. For a more serious look at neuromarketing, check out this lecture.

Child Psychologist

A cute, short, comedy skit portraying a five year old psychotherapist in a session with her frustrated middle-aged client.

Love Story

Winner of the University College London’s 2011 Brains on Film festival. Fun short film depicts love and neurotransmission as film noir romance.

Irrational Economics

Beliefs about the labour market and irrationalities in how it really works. Ariely, an entertaining and charismatic behavioural economist, describes a number of psychology experiments in conditioning and motivation, and explains why workplace financial incentives aren’t effective beyond a certain point. Related: Daniel Pink talks about one of the same studies (an Indian workplace motivation experiment) in the animated RSA lecture Drive. Other Dan Ariely talks highlighted at Channel N: On Fake, and Tendencies of Irrational Behaviour.

On Fake

Behavioural economist Dan Ariely explains his experiment in which wearing sunglasses perceived as designer counterfeits led people to cheat in an economic game. Amusing, nicely produced DIY video, featuring a great wardrobe. Check out more of his vids on Ariely’s YouTube channel (a very funny intro to his work: The Dan Ariely Show), and watch a lecture on irrational behaviour in the archives.

Office Life

Not to be confused with The Office, this is an amusing series too. Mental health issues and stigma in the workplace are the focus. The Interview, The Breakdown, and The Return.

Twitter Wit: Nick Douglas and Guests

The author of Twitter Wit, a collection of humorous tweets, reads from his book and discusses the medium and how people use it. Highlight: Is Twitter shortening our attention spans?

producer FORA.tv
featuring Nick Douglas, Michael Ferguson, Mike Monteiro, Robin Sloan
format Flash, mp3, mp4
date 24/09/09
length 00:42:58
link http://fora.tv/2009/09/24/Twitter_Wit_Nick_Douglas_and_Guests

[Above video features highlights; full episode premieres July 19.]

Most Popular

Would you answer a casting call like this? Contestants wanted: be judged by 100 women on your attractiveness, moral character, likeability, and fashion taste. Answer personal and embarrassing questions on camera. Crowd members will make quick, catty comments about why they don’t like you, if voted off. … Some women have very strong self-esteem and/or a strong drive to appear on TV, so here’s Most Popular, a new game show. 91% of 894 adult women polled by WEtv ”usually judge someone based on their appearance before they get to know them.” This idea underlies the show’s Moral Wheel (spin for questions about scruples, inner self, relationships – and looks) and competitive wedding gowns. Most Popular involves social psychology, evo psych, pop psych, feminism and more. It isn’t a science program, but it is an entertaining cultural experiment.

I’d never watched WEtv before this preview, and their store sells plastic flip-flops with a pink heart pattern – which caused me to form a snap judgment, as a critical woman who likes shoes. Then I challenged the stereotype, got to know the show on its own merits, and feel more positive about it.

The first episode premieres Sunday July 19 at 10:00 pm EST.

Web Therapy – Gossip Girl, part 1-3

Comedy about dubious web psychotherapist Fiona Wallice, who offers three minute sessions online using her theory that 50 minutes is too long and all the real work happens in three minutes. Features Lisa Kudrow of Friends fame, and other well-known actors playing her clients. Season two has just been uploaded to YouTube, beginning with “Gossip Girl” (in three parts) about a woman who comes to therapy for help because she thinks she’s too pretty, but ultimately reveals a shocking secret about Wallice’s husband. I recommend all the webisodes: they’re brief, slick, and very funny.

title Dan Ariely: Tendencies of Irrational Behavior
description This Duke University behavioural economist describes cognitive illusions to demonstrate why people make irrational decisions, opting out and defaults. An amusing talk.
producer The Entertainment Gathering, on FORA.tv
featuring Dan Ariely
format Flash
date 13/12/08
length 00:19:56
link http://fora.tv/2008/12/13/Dan_Ariely_Tendencies_of_Irrational_Behavior

Tags: brain video lecture cognitive cog_sci behaviour behavior decisions psychology