In this special edition of Two Guys on Your Head Dr. Art Markman and Rebecca McInroy talk about the psychology of the current moment in Austin and how to negotiate moving forward following the traumatic events of this month.

Dr. Art Markman offers some advice on how to talk to your children about the Austin bombings.

There are many reasons we might not be happy with the decisions we make, but it turns out not many of them have to do with the actual choice. In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about the psychology of disappointment.

Completing all the tasks we have to do during the day can be exhausting, but we might not realize the fatigue we feel due to all of the things we leave undone. In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about the Zeigarnik effect. Also, check...

It turns out you can have too much of a good thing when it comes to your charismatic leader. On this week’s edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke explore why that is.

Leadership is not as easy as it might appear. At times even leaders themselves might not be aware of everything that makes their leadership effective. In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about leadership and they muse about how it’s easy to work harder than...

“People just don’t have the attention spans they used to,” is a popular refrain. But on this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, we ask Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke if there’s any truth to it.

Time is important, especially when it comes to the brain. In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about how our brains process and understand Time, and how we can reorient out goals within tasks to stay motivated and get more done.

Negotiation is a complicated process. In this episode of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about some psychological elements that can make it a little easier.

Framing negotiations in terms of winning and losing w can set us up for disappointment, not only when it comes to how we negotiate with others but also how we negotiate with ourselves. In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke off some other options that might...

Understanding what we want to make public and what we want to keep private might seem like an easy choice. However, as Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke discuss in this episode of Two Guys on Your Head when it comes to life online, our brains aren’t quite equipped to navigate the complexity of...

The idea that money doesn’t make you happy is easy to get behind if you have it, but if you don’t it’s a hard one to buy into (pun intended). Yet the correlation to money and happiness is more complicated then one might think. In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art...

As humans, we like to categorize, and with services like Ancestry.com and 23 and Me, we have new ways to figure out where we fit and where we don’t. But what can we really find out that we don’t already know? In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr....

We might think that confidence is a performance and that some people are more believable than others because they exude a certainty that we don’t have. However, it turns out that confidence comes with experience and knowledge, and that having some hesitation about accuracy can be beneficial. In this edition of Two Guys on Your...

When we’re just starting out as writers or artists it can be hard for us to go back to the drawing board after we’ve composed the first draft. But why is it easier to be willing to edit after years of experience? In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and...

Last week’s conversation on editing left us thinking, maybe one reason why people are hesitant to edit their work is that they might be seen as going back on their ideas, or flip-flopping. In this week’s edition of Two Guys on Your Head Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about why flip-flopping is seen...

Join KUT’s Rebecca McInroy along with professors Art Markman and Bob Duke as they talk about the psychology of social activism, the effectiveness of deterrence, and the health consequences of negative emotions. Views and Brews is free and open to the public, hope to see you at the Cactus soon!

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in a debate that it doesn’t occur to us to change the frame of the conversation. However, as Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about in this episode of Two Guys on Your Head, it’s always important to find new ways to talk about and think about...

We may think that civil discourse is a good idea, but when it gets down to practicing it how skilled are we? In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke take on the psychology of civility.

Say a store you love changes hands and you aren’t too fond of the new place. So why do you continue to go back to the store when you know it’s not the same? Turns out a lot of psychology goes into the decision-making process around this dilemma. On this edition of Two Guys on...

A few months ago, we rebroadcast an episode on Money and Happiness. The show focused on research into whether money brings happiness. The researchers’ conclusion was that money helps, but happiness is contingent on what we spend it on. If we buy experiences rather than things, chances were we would be happier people. Turns out...

“Hey, you know, you’re really good at that.” That feels good to hear, doesn’t it? Praise always feels good to hear, but not all praise motivates us to try new things, challenge ourselves or deal with failure. In this episode of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke discuss how...

Time flies when you’re having fun, the old saying goes. But how can time – maybe the most fundamental concept of the universe – feel different under different conditions? On this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman, and Dr. Bob Duke – break down the factors influencing our perception of time.

Anger is an interesting emotion. It creates energy and can be contagious, it can also motivate you to act. But it’s not always the most effective form of motivation if you want to get people to think and work together to create change. On this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman...

When and why do we take risks? What goes into the process of remaking yourself at any age or stage of life? What is the role of grief when we talk about reinvention? These are some of the questions we discussed with Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke at a recent Views and Brews...

We might feel like we’ve been duped when we believe a lie someone has told us, and we may want to crawl in a hole when we share “fake news” on Facebook. But in actuality, we have evolved to trust vs. to question, which is why our tendency toward credulity if easily taken advantage of....

Many times we use metaphors not only to illustrate what we are talking about but also to denote that we belong in a certain group. In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about the psychology of metaphors and framing discourse.

Why is it hard to have just one of those delicious slices of pound cake over the holidays? Well, it turns out it has less to do with the creamy butter and more to do with the way our brains react to those sweet white grains of sugar. In this edition of Two Guys on...

For many of us, Thanksgiving means spending time with our families, carrying out traditions that we’ve practiced for years. While it can be very stressful, messy, and challenging to spend time with family members you don’t see very often, it can also be a beautiful time of re-centering. Traditions serve a psychological function. By repeating...

If you’re in a leadership position you know you have to make some difficult decisions. Some of those decisions might put you in the doghouse for a while, but if you are motivated by the good of the group as opposed to the need to be liked, things tend to work out better. In this...

On this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke continue their discussion on leadership with a look at the psychology of leadership and the importance of trust.

If you’ve caught yourself wanting to lie in a social situation, you’re not alone. Honesty is a huge part of trust in every relationship but can be difficult to maintain across all sorts of interactions. In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about honesty and happiness.

The two cheapest and easiest things we can do for our health is sleep more and exercise more, so why don’t we do it? Sleep and exercise have an immense impact on physical and mental health both in the moment and for your future self. In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr....

Happy 2019! It’s that time of the year when we resolve to drink less, exercise more, save money, etc. It may feel really good to intend to do “better” in the new year, but as Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke  explain in this 2015 edition of Two Guys on Your Head, real change takes planning and hard work.

We’re used to seeing certain people in one context, but why do we get so thrown off when we see them elsewhere? How do cultural differences in collectivism and individualism shape the way we may perceive people in a variety of settings? On this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke discuss acquaintances...

In the heat of the moment, revenge can be an appealing idea to consider but often it has devastating results with fleeting satisfaction. Revenge narratives permeate popular media and we dislike when a wrongdoer goes unpunished, so why don’t we actually decide to carry out justice ourselves? On this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr....

We judge our own actions on our intentions, yet we take other people’s behaviors at face value. Is it acceptable to do something virtuous in light of ill intent? In this episode of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke discuss actions and intentions.

When thinking about the concept of a “micro aggression”, what we’re really doing is subscribing to signal detection theory. What is the theory and how does it come into play when we’re dissecting the behaviors of others? In the first episode of this two-part conversation on Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke discuss...

We’ve covered what signal detection theory is, so how does it come up when we assign labels to behaviors that could be considered “micro aggressions”? Are there significant benefits to these labels? In the second episode of this two-part conversation on Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke continue their discussion on signal detection....

As tax day nears, it’s not a bad idea to look at our spending habits. Typically when we experience a windfall, we tend to spend more. When we come up short, we spend less. So although objectively we should maintain an average amount of spending, our financial habits continue to be influenced by how much...

A psychological study with null results is less likely to be published than one with surprising results, so it’s no wonder researchers tailor and conduct experiments with a preferred outcome in mind. So why is it so difficult to replicate a popular study around the time of its initial publication? In this episode of Two...

A new idea that matches our beliefs is easy to latch onto and one that contradicts us makes us try and find reasons why it’s false. In an age of information-seeking, how can we best judge “the facts”? In this episode of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke discuss accepting and dismissing information.

A new idea that matches our beliefs is easy to latch onto and one that contradicts us makes us try and find reasons why it’s false. In an age of information-seeking, how can we best judge “the facts”? In this episode of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke discuss accepting and dismissing...

In psychology, the “Dark Triad” refers to narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. How do we identify those who are “high in the Dark Triad” and in what ways can these people be detrimental to our professional or personal life? In this episode of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke discuss the Dark Triad.

For some, completing a task the moment it arises is of utmost importance. But if you do something to completion far ahead of its deadline, you may miss out on important information. On this episode of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke discuss “pre-crastination”.

Even though we know how unreliable our visual memory is, we still put a huge amount of stock into what someone says they saw. Why is an eyewitness account so important in legal proceedings and beyond, and why should we question the value of an eyewitness testimony? On this episode of Two Guys on Your...

Listen back to a Views and Brews discussion, recorded live at The Cactus Cafe in Austin, Texas, about “The Psychology of Risk and Reinvention” with Two Guys on Your Head. Join KUT’s Rebecca Mcinroy along with Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke to explore when and why we take risks, and what goes into...

KUT’s Rebecca McInroy along with Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about why it’s so important to diversify your interests. What is unhealthy about a one track mind? And why is it important to step outside our brain’s comfort zone?

We might think the idea of happiness and joy are interchangeable, but as Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke discuss on this episode Two Guys on Your Head they are very different.

It turns out when it comes to magic it’s more about psychology than it is hocus pocus. On this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about the role our perceptual system plays in understanding trickery.