Core Studies

Milgram's obedience study | Horizon

Watch a modern replication of Milgram's famous obedience study and see how the participants react to the situation.

How did Milgram's participants feel? | The Brain: A Secret History

Dr Michael Mosley speaks to a participant from the original Milgram study to find out how they felt about ...

Real footage from Milgram's study | Horizon

Milgram discusses his famous obedience experiment alongside actual footage from the study.

What were Milgram's conclusions? | Horizon

Milgram discusses the conclusions and outcomes from his famous obedience study.

What happened to Kitty Genovese? | Mind Changers

Details about the murder of Kitty Genovese and the 38 witnesses who did not intervene or call for help.

The bystander effect | Mind Changers

The bystander effect and how fewer people than you might think intervene when they witness a crime taking place.

Loftus' reconstructive memory experiment | Mind Changers

Professor Elizabeth Loftus discusses her study about leading questions and memory.

Eyewitness testimony | David Wilson's Crime Files

The problems of eye witness testimony and the effect of leading questions.

Can leading questions distort memory? | The Brain with David Eagleman

Professor Elizabeth Loftus summarises her famous study about leading questions and distorting memory.

Video games and attention | Horizon

Professor Daphne Bavelier is researching how playing video games can actually enhance visual attention in the real world.

Visual inattention | The Human Senses

Watch in real time an experiment showing how we don't register all of the visual information that we receive through our eyes.

Unintentional blindness | Health Check

An explanation of how unintentional blindness occurs, for example with the case of the invisible gorilla.

Visual attention | The Brain with David Eagleman

When we view an object or scene, we don't take a mental photograph. Instead, our brain is choosing to focus attention on a f...

Video games and aggression | Horizon

Levels of aggression have been shown to increase after playing violent video games.

Video games and violent crime | Horizon

Levels of violent crime have been steadily declining since the introduction of video games.

Reinforcement and aggression | Horizon

Michael Portillo investigates the role of socialisation and reinforcement of aggression in different cultures.

Imitation of aggression | The Brain: A Secret History

Bandura's work challenged views of the time and showed that aggression is often imitated.

Pavlov and behaviourism | The Brain: A Secret History

An introduction to Pavlov's work that paved the way for behaviourism and classical conditioning.

Vicarious learning | Mind Changers

Discussion about the importance of vicarious learning and the theory behind Bandura's Bobo doll experiment.

The influence of culture | HARDtalk

Exploring the issue of cultural bias and important differences between individualist and collectivist cultures.

Skinner and operant conditioning | Great Thinkers: In Their Own Words

An introduction to Skinner's work that focused on the use of operant conditioning to shape behaviour in...

Lying and truth telling | GrownUpLand

Here are several examples of lying - but is lying always wrong?

Why do children lie? | Deeply Human

Explore the role of white lies and when children start to tell them.

Nature vs nurture | The Brain with David Eagleman

The interplay between genetics and the environment, do we truly have free will over our behaviour?

Phineas Gage | Mind Changers

Discover the story of Phineas Gage and how his tragic accident led to the idea of localisation of function.

The Knowledge | Modern Times

Follow trainee taxi drivers as they undergo one of the most difficult memory tests, The Knowledge.

Video games and plasticity | Horizon

Playing video games can lead to brain plasticity and improve navigation.

Taxi drivers and plasticity | The Brain with David Eagleman

An introduction to the Marshmallow study and what this shows about delayed gratification.

Right hemisphere removal | The Brain with David Eagleman

Professor Casey explains her research into delayed gratification and the impact this has on behaviour.

The marshmallow study | Horizon

Watch a re-enactment of the marshmallow study and learn what this simple test can predict.

Marshmallows and delayed gratification | Mind Changers

An introduction to the Marshmallow study and what this shows about delayed gratification.

Delayed gratification | Mind Changers

Professor Casey explains her research into delayed gratification and the impact this has on behaviour.

Split brain patients | The Brain: A Secret History

These split brain patients showed Sperry that each hemisphere of the brain has a different role to play and a separate con...

Autism and emotional processing | Growing Children

The presenter and an autistic individual discuss their interpretation of a portrait painting, showing a difference with em...

Autism and facial expressions | Word of Mouth

Michael Rosen discusses emotional cues and facial expressions with his guests.

The Sally Anne test | Horizon

Professor Uta Frith demonstrates the Sally Anne test which examines a child's theory of mind

An introduction to Freud's work | The Brain with David Eagleman

A brief introduction to Freud's work and the role of the unconscious mind in mental health.

Freud's study of Little Hans | Mind Changers

Freud's famous Little Hans case is discussed and evaluated in terms of its subjectivity.

Freud's theory of the unconscious mind | Great Thinkers: In Their Own Words

An overview of Freud's work and the unconscious with a rare audio recording of Freud himself.

The Oedipus complex | Genius of the Modern World

Freud saw in himself that the Oedipus complex can have an impact on behaviour.

Evaluation of Freud's theories | Genius of the Modern World

Evaluations of Freud's work, was he too subjective or is there an element of truth in his theories of the subcons...

Dream analysis | Genius of the Modern World

Freud's interpretation of dreams as being an important window into the unconscious mind.

Measuring intelligence | Horizon

What is intelligence and how can we measure it?

Genetic basis of intelligence | Discovery

Professor Robert Plomin explains the twin study method and how it is used to explore the genetic basis of intelligence

Broken Brains | The Brain: A Secret History

Michael Mosley ends his look at the history of experimental psychology by exploring how experiments on abnormal brains can reveal...

Emotions | The Brain: A Secret History

Dr Michael Mosley investigates how scientists have struggled to understand that most irrational and deeply complex part of our minds -...

Mind Control | The Brain: A Secret History

Michael Mosley traces the sinister ways science has been used to try to control our minds, finding that its pursuit has led to som...

Horizon: You Do As You Are Told: Jonathan Miller and the Milgram Experiment

Jonathan Miller introduces a 1973 episode of Horizon, which documents the results of Stanley Milg...

How Do I Decide? | The Brain with David Eagleman

This episode takes a journey through the unseen world of decisions, and how they get made.

What Is Reality? | The Brain with David Eagleman

David takes us on a journey that explores how the brain, locked in silence and darkness without direct access to it, conjure...

What Makes Me? | The Brain with David Eagleman

David explores how the brain conjures up the world we take for granted. This episode shows how the brain gives rise to thought...

Who Is in Control? | The Brain with David Eagleman

David explores how almost every action we take, every decision we make, every belief that we hold is driven by parts of th...

Who Will We Be? | The Brain with David Eagleman

Dr Eagleman journeys into the future, and asks what's next for the human brain and for our species.

Why Do I Need You? | The Brain with David Eagleman

This episode looks at how the human brain relies on other brains to thrive and survive.

Are Video Games Really That Bad? | Horizon

Horizon explores the differing opinions on video games. They frequently stand accused of causing violence and addiction in young p...

Human, All Too Human | Great Thinkers: In Their Own Words

This programme mines the BBC archive to hear the great minds of the 20th century in their own words - the likes of ...

What Makes Us Clever? | Horizon

Dallas Campbell delves into the Horizon archive to discover how our understanding of intelligence has transformed over the last century. From...

Mind Changers: Walter Mischel's Marshmallow Study

Claudia Hammond with more experiments that changed our understanding of the human mind.

Autism | Growing Children

Child psychologist Laverne Antrobus sets out to discover the different way that the brain works in children with autism and to explore the latest ...

Word of Mouth: Autism and Communication

Michael Rosen finds out what can be learnt about communication from people with autism.

Living with Autism | Horizon

Professor Uta Frith shows how another kind of reality exists for people with autism and if many of us could be a little bit autistic.

Freud | Genius of the Modern World

Bettany Hughes travels to Vienna on the trail of Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis. Freud's influence surrounds us. In our vocab...