Psychsoundbites: Aims & Scope

PsychSoundbites aims to inform and inspire. Back in the 20th Century, the American Psychological Association President George Miller had a lot to say regarding Psychology’s usefulness. At the annual 1969 convention he reminded attendees that Psychology’s reason for being is to discover the fundamentals about the human experience so that we can improve the human experience. Following, he shared with conference goers his vision for a moral imperative to give psychology away to promote human welfare. Today, I call this sentiment “The Miller Imperative” and this website is my contribution to it.

Table of Contents

Psychsoundbites Aims

In the 21st century with so much content at our fingertips, students come to classes with some knowledge about Psychology in mind. As I prepare my teaching materials each year I keep an eye on how Psychology is portrayed in the media, so that I can anticipate what my students might be thinking about as they enter into each class. What I find in these search-sessions is that modern topics are not well represented in the media. Rather, figures from the 19th and 20th century predominate, along with a whole host of speculative content, too. That is, modern psychology is not well represented in modern media (see here, for a deeper discussion of Psychology’s representation issues). I intend to change this, one “psychsoundbite” (or two or three) at a time. The essays posted here can be used to supplement or update your own working knowledge of Psychology, no matter your level of expertise.

Psychsoundbites Scope

Psychsoundbites is a growing media collective, with arms extending out into multiple media sites. In addition to this growing website, you can find Psychsoundbites on:

While there is carry-over (i.e., continuity) across sites, following the format and “culture” of each site, the content varies across them, too. On this site, you will find short articles that feature modern psychology topics, loosely covering the scope of the field. My expertise is in Cognition and Development, however after teaching in an undergraduate liberal arts college for over 20 years, I can speak to current issues in most of Psych’s sub-fields. While I aim for breadth in my topical coverage, cognitive and developmental topics are likely to predominate. If you have a request though, please let me know by leaving a comment.

Psychsoundbites is a work in progress

My vision for a media collective, where modern Psychology content is represented in a variety of ways, is a work in progress. Here on this site, you can expect to find a growing collection of topically focused essays. These essays will feature modern content, though as-needed historical work may be mentioned, too. On Substack, I present more personal essays about modern topics and their applications, and about my teaching approaches (See the “Trade Tools” subheading for teaching content). On the social media sites, I feature my unique graphic designs and psychology-memes, with shorter soundbites to offer context for the images. Some of these images are for sale as stickers, posters, and tee shirts on my Redbubble site.

In keeping with the Miller Imperative, I do not charge subscription fees for access to my Substack content. Instead, if you do feel moved to support my work, I invite you to visit the Psychsoundbites Shop on Redbubble — click here — and purchase a sticker, poster, or tee shirt (the posters look great IRL — I have them on my office doors!) to proudly display in the real world. While the profit margins there are pretty slim, I love knowing that Psychsoundbites content isn’t just virtual — it’s “actual” as well. Knowing that my content circulates in the virtual and the actual world keeps me going.

Thanks for visiting. Please share, and come back often to see what’s new! <3

~ Yours truly, Prf. K.