Tertiary Catalogue

Eyewitness testimony and its veracity presents problems for juries and judges, according to the University of California's Dr Elizabeth Loftus. She tells Eve Ash that this intersection of psychology and law has revealed that the more confident a witness, the more they are believed even if their memories are mistaken. More than 300 people, such as Steven Titus (misidentified as a rapist) have been convicted through faulty or false memories. The problem is compounded when zealous detective coach witnesses, or when false and distorted memories are "implanted". People sometimes cling to a mistaken belief, even when the evidence shows they are wrong. Show Less

Eve Ash discusses why people tell lies with the University of Massachusetts Amherst's Professor Robert Feldman, a specialist in psychological and brain sciences. He has studied lying for many years and observes that (1) all people tell lies in different situations; (2) many are not truthful on their resumes and in job interviews; (3) sometimes people confabulate to fill memory gaps caused by stressful or traumatic conditions. In crime situations, he explains that false memories occur, and people's eagerness to find a culprit sometimes leads to the wrong person being convicted. You can't always tell a liar from their physical cues (e.g. excessive blinking, looking away). This can cause deception bias and investigations clouded by tunnel vision. Dr Feldman and Eve Ash discuss the case of Sue Neill-Fraser, convicted and jailed for murder in Tasmania in 2010. Show Less

Eve Ash talks to Professor Robert Feldman (University of Massachusetts Amherst) about his research for the book "The Liar in Your Life": He reveals that we all lie at different times, there are many types of lies ranging from the unconscious to lies of commission, and that people often lie within the first ten minutes of meeting someone. We lie to create an impression, we lie because we are anxious, we make up narratives to fill gaps in our memories. We have a "truth bias" in as much as we don't want to believe another person might be lying. Lies create spiral effects ("You lie, I lie"). We might be suspicious of liars, but we also tend to forgive them. Lies lead to inauthenticity in relationships. People compartmentalize lies and can live with them for many, many years. Show Less

People sometimes lie for a reason and will exaggerate to enhance their prestige in the eyes of others. People having secret affairs tell lies; this was the situation for Eve Ash's mother who lied for years about Eve's biological father. Eve's subsequent investigation revealed her real father, and how he was built into her story, although her mother never admitted the truth. Discovering her personal story has led Eve to forgive her mother's deception. Show Less

The controversies surrounding abortion involve a clash between two fundamental rights: the right of the unborn child, or foetus, and the rights of the mother. This video begins with the storm created by leading case of Roe vs Wade and then provides students with an unbiased analysis of the ethical issues underlying demands for the criminalisation and the legalisation of abortion. Show Less

When Vincent Li murdered and then cannibalised 22-year-old Tim McLean on a Greyhound bus heading for Winnipeg, the shock waves ran through Canadian society. But when Li was found unfit to face trial and later released, shock turned to outrage and triggered a social media moral panic. This film looks at the social reaction to Tim McLean's murder and how it challenged the conventional sociological model of how moral panics are generated. Show Less

This programme begins by defining stress and its causes. Types of stressors like daily life hassles and major life events, and the psychological responses of eustress and distress are explored. The second half of the programme looks closely at the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping (Lazarus and Folkman) and how cognitive appraisal of experiences – how we perceive a situation – impacts stress. Show Less

We all feel stress: a response to demands that exceed our ability to cope. It’s not only psychological – biology plays a major role in the stress response. This programme details the immediate physiological processes of fight or flight responses, as well as the stages of General Adaptive Syndrome (GAS). The negative effects of prolonged stress on the body are also explored. Show Less

Psychologists have studied the cognitive and emotional strategies we use to cope with stress for decades. This programme explores the benefits and costs of two widely recognised strategies: avoidance and approach. Additional strategies of social support, exercise, drug therapy and biofeedback are also discussed. Show Less

Psychologists don’t just owe a duty of care to the participants of their research, they also have a duty to produce creative and socially useful research, and sometimes these obligations come into conflict. From this basis, an ethical case can be made even for research commonly seen as ‘unethical’. Students are given a case study and asked to discuss the ethical issues. Show Less

While most psychologists look to explain behaviour in terms of factors within individuals, others focus more on situations, and one of these is Philip Zimbardo. Here Zimbardo uses extracts from his infamous Stanford Prison Study and abuse of prisoners in Abu Ghraib to illustrate this view. Show Less

Do we have choices in life or is our behaviour determined? Recent advances in neuroscience have thrown new light on this long running issue. Here we look at, and reconstruct, Libet’s seminal experiment with Professor Patrick Haggard of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. Show Less

When facing complex issues, psychologists often break them down into their component parts, and then identify a key cause. This approach is called reductionism, and this title explores the advantages and disadvantages of reductionism. Students are given a case study and asked to examine the utility of a reductionist approach. Show Less

Is psychology a science? Students will learn what science is and the ways in which psychology is both like and unlike a science. Two case studies are given to explore the different ways to approach psychology, and to help students formulate their own opinions Show Less

Animals have contributed to a lot of scientific advancements, but how ethical is it to use them in research? This title discusses the legality and ethical issues concerning the use of animals in research, and asks students to consider whether the use of animals is justified. Show Less

Suicide has been a taboo subject but attitudes are changing. There is a push to raise public awareness, openly discuss and seek different approaches to this complex, highly emotive issue to help prevent suicide. Unfortunately teachers, students and school communities should be prepared to deal with this tragedy. In this program, Psychiatrist Patrick McGorry and Psychotherapist Julie Lynn Evans talk about, in a sensitive and informed manner, factors that may lead to thoughts of suicide, warning signs, what to do if you suspect a student is contemplating taking their own life, how to respond to a student in distress, coping with the tragedy of a student taking her own life, and how teachers can support themselves as well as students and the school community. The short film and commentary was produced in consultation with Psychologist Susan O’Brien, MATS; CEDP. Essential for all high school teachers wanting to tackle this difficult subject matter but not sure exactly how. Show Less

*New edition with shorter video chapters. High school student Chloe is shocked to discover her best friend has taken his own life. She finds herself and those around her, struggling to cope with the complex, confusing emotions of grief and loss. The tragedy brings to the surface her own dark troubling thoughts causing her to withdraw as her life seems to slowly unravel. However, with support and understanding, there’s a way through these dark days. Commentary by mental health experts is interspersed at key points in the drama to further explore the complex emotional and psychological themes covered. It provides talking points to support class discussions. Show Less