BOX SET: 6 Minute English - 'Psychology' English mega-class! Thirty minutes of new vocabulary!

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning  English. I'm Neil. And I'm Sam. Many people have  

favourites - a favourite colour, a favourite  flavour, a favourite word. What's yours,  

Neil? Hmm, my favourite colour is green, my  favourite flavour is sweet-and-sour, and, well,  

I don't know if it's my favourite, but there is a  word I really like saying out loud - 'nincompoop'.  

It means a silly person. For me, it's the taste  of coffee, and the smell of lavender, or freshly  

baked bread. Our favourite tastes, smells and  colours are controlled by our five senses - sight,  

sound, smell, taste, and touch. For most of us  they don't mix. We see colours and taste flavours,  

but we can't taste sounds. But that's not  how everyone's brain works. Imagine being  

able to 'taste' every word that you hear. In this  programme, we'll meet two sisters from Glasgow in  

Scotland who can do just that. And as usual, we'll  learn some new vocabulary as well. Julie McDowall  

and her younger sister, Jen McCready, have  synaesthesia, a neurological condition where two  

or more senses mix together. When synesthetes, as  they're called, hear a word, their sense of taste  

also becomes activated. Words produce specific  tastes on their tongues. For example, when Jen  

hears the name of her daughter, Sophia, she tastes  pink marshmallows! And the name 'Leo' tastes like  

noodles. We'll hear more from the unusual sisters  later, but first I have a question for you, Neil.  

We've just heard what happens when Jen McCready  hears the names 'Sophia', and 'Leo', but what  

does she taste when she hears the name 'Neil'?  Is It: a) eggs and bacon? b) spaghetti hoops? or  

c) a jam sandwich? Well, I don't know what this  says about me, Sam, but I'm going to guess that  

it's c) a jam sandwich. OK. Don't worry, Neil -  I'll reveal the answer later in the programme.  

Synaesthesia isn't only about people, like Julie  and Jen, who taste words - it can be a mixing of  

any of our senses. A synesthete may hear colours  or see sounds. In fact, there could be as many  

as 150 different types of synaesthesia. For the  Scottish sisters having synaesthesia is a gift,  

something Jen explained when she talked with  BBC World Service programme, The Food Chain:  

This is enjoyable, it's never anything that causes  - the only thing I would say is it's quite hard  

if you're trying to eat healthily because if  you hear a word that maybe tastes like tuna,  

I'll be like, 'Oh, I need to get a tune baguette  now' ... You know, it's almost like being  

pregnant and having a craving ... words can be so  vivid that you want to eat that - that's the only  

negative I would say about it. For Jen, the only  drawback to synaesthesia is that it can be hard  

to eat healthily because hearing certain words  produces a craving - a strong feeling of wanting  

a particular food. That could be because, for  Jen, the sound of the word is so vivid - clear,  

detailed, and powerful in her mind. There's still  much doctors don't know about why some people  

experience sense mixing while most of  us experience each sense in isolation,  

but it's clear that for Julie and Jen,  synaesthesia makes the world a more interesting,  

colourful place. Someone who can explain why  so little is known about synaesthesia is Guy  

Leschziner, consultant neurologist at King's  College London, and author of the book,  

'The Man Who Tasted Words'. Here he is speaking  to BBC World Service's, The Food Chain:  

One of the problems with synaesthesia is for many  years it's been dismissed, and it's been viewed as  

people with an overactive imagination, something  not real but actually what research in recent  

years has taught us is that actually it does have  an underlying neurological and genetic basis.  

Guy says that in the past, synaesthesia was  often dismissed - considered unimportant or  

uninteresting. Synesthetes were labelled people  with overactive imaginations - a tendency to  

imagine things that are not true. But research  is showing that the causes of synaesthesia  

could run in the family. Julie and Jen's brothers  don't have synaesthesia, but Jen's daughter does.  

And with an estimated 4% of the world  population having some form of sense mixing,  

a world of new and exciting possibilities is  opening up to millions. Exciting possibilities  

like tasting someone's name... Remember in my  question I asked what synesthete, Jen McCready,  

tastes when she hears the name 'Neil'. OK. Well,  I guessed that 'Neil' tastes like a jam sandwich.  

Was I right? Well, Neil, no - you  don't taste like a jam sandwich.  

In fact, when Jen hears the name 'Neil',  she tastes spaghetti hoops! Oh well,  

it could be worse - the name 'Robert' makes Jen  taste rotten eggs! Sorry to any Roberts listening.  

OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned in  this programme about synaesthesia - a neurological  

condition where two or more senses mix together.  A nincompoop is an informal way of saying a silly  

person. A craving for something is the strong  desire to have it. A vivid sensation is clear,  

strong and detailed in your mind. When something  is dismissed, it's considered unimportant or  

uninteresting. And finally, an overactive  imagination is the tendency to imagine things  

that are not true. Once again, our six minutes  are up! If you've enjoyed this look into the weird  

and wonderful world of synaesthesia, we hope  you'll join us again next time for more chat,  

interesting issues and useful vocabulary here  at 6 Minute English. Bye for now! Goodbye!  

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning  English. I'm Rob. And I'm Sam. Here at 6 Minute  

English, we love to chat about new technology. One  of our favourite topics is VR or virtual reality,  

and the ways it's shaping life in the future. VR  allows you to put on a headset and escape into a  

completely different world. In this programme,  we'll be hearing about some of the ways VR is  

tackling serious problems like domestic violence,  and helping people overcome phobias - the strong  

and irrational fear of something. And, of course,  we'll be learning some useful related vocabulary  

along the way. People who use VR often describe  the experience as intense. Putting on the headset  

makes you feel you're really there, in whatever  new world you've chosen. And it's this intensity  

that inventors, scientists and therapists are  using to help people overcome their problems.  

We'll hear more soon, but first I have a question  for you, Sam. One of the phobias VR can help  

with is the fear of heights - but what is the  proper name for this psychological disorder?  

Is the fear of heights called: a) alektorophobia?  b) arachnophobia? or c) acrophobia? I'll say a)  

alektorophobia. OK, Sam. We'll find out the answer  at the end of the programme. Now, if like me,  

you're not very good with heights, you'll be  happy to know that a company called Oxford VR  

has designed a system to help with precisely that  problem. In the safety of your own home, you put  

on a headset and are guided through a series of  tasks moving you higher and higher off the ground.  

You start by taking an elevator to the top floor  of tall building and move on harder challenges,  

like climbing a rope. Daniel Freeman is a  professor of clinical psychology at Oxford  

University. Listen as he explains how the VR  experience works to BBC World Service programme,  

People Fixing the World. Even though  you're consciously aware it's a simulation,  

it doesn't stop all your habitual reactions to  heights happening, and that's really important,  

and that's why it's got such a potential to  be therapeutic. The art of successful therapy,  

and what you can do really, really well in VR, is  enable someone to drop those defences, and in VR  

a person is more able to drop them because  they know there's no real height there.  

Although the VR experience seems real,  the person using it knows it's only a  

simulation - a pretend copy of the real thing.  This gives them confidence to go higher,  

knowing they can't really get hurt. But although  it's simulated, the experience is real enough to  

trick your mind into acting in its habitual  way - the way it usually, typically works.  

Although your brain knows you have both feet on  the ground, VR is so realistic that to complete  

the tasks you have to drop your defences, a phrase  meaning to relax and trust people by lowering the  

psychological barriers you have built to protect  yourself. Oxford VR's 'Fear of Heights' experience  

uses VR to put people into another world, but  the next project we'll hear about takes things  

even further - putting people into someone else's  body. In Barcelona, a VR simulation is being used  

in prisons to make men convicted of domestic  violence aware of what it feels like to be in  

the position of their victims. The project, called  'virtual embodiment', is led by neuroscientist,  

Mavi Sanchez-Vives, of Barcelona's Institute for  Biomedical Research. In a virtual world we can be  

someone different and have a first-person embodied  perspective from the point-of-view, for example,  

of a different person, different gender, different  age. One can go through different situations and  

have the experience from this totally novel  perspective. Many of the prisoners lack empathy  

for their victims. 'Virtual embodiment' works by  giving these men the experience of abuse in the  

first-person - from the perspective of someone who  actually experiences an event in person. In VR,  

the men have the insults and abuse they gave to  others turned back on them. It's a novel - a new  

and original - experience for them, and not a  pleasant one either. But the VR therapy seems  

to be working, and Dr Sanchez-Vives reports  more and more of the prisoners successfully  

reintegrating into their communities after their  release from prison. The experience VR creates of  

seeing things from someone else's point-of-view  can be therapeutic, even for serious problems.  

And speaking of problems, what was the answer  to your question, Rob? I asked Sam whether  

the correct name for the fear of heights was  alektorophobia, arachnophobia, or acrophobia? I  

guessed it was alektorophobia. Which was the wrong  answer. Alektorophobia is the fear of chickens!  

The correct answer was c) acrophobia - a  fear of heights, and a good example of a  

phobia. Let's recap the rest of the vocabulary  we've learned, starting with simulation - a  

pretend copy of something that looks real  but is not. Habitual describes the usual,  

typical way something works. The phrase 'drop your  defences' means to relax and trust something by  

lowering your psychological barriers. In the  first-person means talking about something  

from the perspective of the person who actually  experienced an event themselves. And finally, the  

adjective novel means completely new and original,  unlike anything that has happened before. Well,  

once again, our six minutes are really -  and virtually - over! Goodbye for now! Bye!  

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning  English. I'm Neil. And I'm Georgina. This is the  

programme where we hope to add some colour  to your life by talking about an interesting  

subject and teaching you some useful vocabulary.  And colour is what we're talking about today.  

What's your favourite colour, Neil? Oh, I like  green - a fresh, bold colour, that reminds me of  

nature - it can have a calming effect. And you?  It's got to be blue - it reminds me of the sea,  

the sky - and holidays, of course! Colour - no  matter which one we prefer - affects how we feel.  

And we'll be talking about that soon. But not  before I challenge you to answer my quiz question,  

Georgina - and it's a science question. Do  you know what the splitting of white light  

into its different colours is called? Is it...  a) dispersion, b) reflection, or c) refraction?  

Hmmm. Well, I'm not a scientist, so I'll have  a guess as c) refraction. OK, I'll reveal the  

right answer later on. But now, let's talk  more about colour. Colour can represent many  

different things, depending on where you come  from. You can be 'green with envy' - wishing  

you had what someone else had. And someone can  feel blue - so feel depressed. We choose colours  

to express ourselves in what we wear or how we  decorate our home. The BBC Radio 4 programme,  

You and Yours, has been talking about colour and  whether it affects everyone's mood. Karen Haller  

is a colour psychologist and a colour designer and  consultant - she explained how colour affects us.  

It's the way that we take in the wavelengths of  light because colour is wavelengths of light,  

and it's how that comes in through our eye,  and then it goes into the part of our brain  

called the hypothalamus, which governs our  sleeping patterns, our hormones, our behaviours,  

our appetite - it governs - everything and so  different colours and different frequencies or  

different wavelengths of light, we have different  responses and different reactions to them.  

So, colour is wavelengths of light - a wavelength  is the distance between two waves of sound or  

light that are next to each other. As these  wavelengths change, so does the colour we see.  

Thanks for the science lesson! Karen also  explained that there's a part of our brain that  

controls - she used the word govern - how we feel  and how we behave. And this can change depending  

on what colour we see. Interesting stuff - of  course, colour can affect us differently. Seeing  

red can make one person angry but someone else  may just feel energised. Homeware and furnishing  

manufacturers offer a whole spectrum - or range  - of colours to choose to suit everyone s taste,  

and mood. But during the recent coronavirus  pandemic, there was a rise in demand for intense,  

bright shades and patterns. This was referred to  as 'happy design' - design that was meant to help  

lift our mood. Yes, and Karen Haller spoke a bit  more about this on the You and Yours programme.  

In the time when everyone was out and we were  all working, and we lived very busy lives,  

quite often what people wanted - they wanted  a quiet sanctuary to come back to, so they had  

very pale colours or very low chromatic colours  in their house - low saturation - because that  

helped them unwind and helped them relax and to  feel very soothed. But what I have found since  

the first lockdown is a lot of people, because  they re not getting that outside stimulation,  

they're actually putting a lot of brighter colours  in their home because they're trying to bring in  

that feeling that they would have got when they  were out - that excitement and that buzz. It seems  

that in our normal busy working lives, our homes  were peaceful places and somewhere to relax - they  

were a sanctuary. To create this relaxing space,  we use pale colours - ones that lack intensity,  

like sky blue. But during the recent lockdowns,  when we weren't outside much, we tried to get  

that stimulation - that excitement or experience  - by decorating our homes with brighter colour.  

Such as yellow! Hmmm, perhaps a little too  bright for me! It is all about personal taste  

and the connections we make with the colours we  see but it makes sense that brighter colours can  

certainly lift our mood. Now, earlier I asked  you, Georgina, do you know what the splitting  

of white light into its different colours is  called? Is it... a) dispersion, b) reflection,  

or c) refraction? And I said it was refraction.  Sorry Georgina, that's wrong. It is actually  

called dispersion. Back to school for you - but  not before we recap some of today's vocabulary.  

OK. Firstly we can describe someone who wishes  they had what someone else has, as being green  

with envy. We also talked about a wavelength  - the distance between two waves of sound or  

light that are next to each other. To govern  means to control or influence. A sanctuary can  

be a peaceful or relaxing place - in some cases  it can be a safe place for someone in danger.  

Stimulation describes the feeling of being  excited, interested or enthused by something. And  

pale describes a colour that lacks intensity, it's  not very bright - and for me, they're much better  

than a bold bright yellow! Well, Georgina, thanks  for showing your true colours! That's all for now,  

but we'll be picking another topic to discuss out  of the blue, next time. Don't forget you can hear  

other 6 Minute English programmes and much more  on our website at bbclearningenglish.com - and  

we're always posting stuff on our social  media platforms. Bye for now. Goodbye.  

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC  Learning English. I’m Neil. And I’m Sam.  

We often hear phrases such as, ‘dream big’  or, ‘reach for the stars’ which reflect an  

optimistic view of life. Are you an optimist, Sam?  I hope so! I try to see the positive side of life,  

even when something bad happens. It sounds like  you’re a glass-half-full person – someone who  

always thinks that good things will happen.  How about you, Neil? Are you optimistic? Look,  

things go wrong all the time - that’s a fact of  life. Call me a pessimist if you like but I’m  

just being realistic. Hmm, it sounds like  Neil is more of a glass-half-empty person,  

but the truth is that the age-old debate between  optimism and pessimism is more complex than we  

think. Yes, whether you’re a sunny optimist or a  gloomy pessimist may be determined more by your  

birthplace and your age than your attitude, as  we’ll be finding out in this programme. Great.  

I’ve got a good feeling about this, Neil! But  first, as usual, I have a question for you, Sam.  

Psychologists define optimism as an attitude  which overestimates the chances of good things  

happening to you, while underestimating  the chances of bad things occurring.  

So, what proportion of the British population,  do you think, describe themselves as optimistic?  

Is it: a) 20 percent? b) 50 percent? or, c) 80  percent? I’ll choose the largest – 80 percent… OK,  

Sam. We’ll find out if your optimistic answer is  the correct one later in the programme. Someone  

who probably wouldn’t agree with you, though, is  BBC World Service listener, Hannah. Hannah grew  

up in Germany before moving to the United States.  She thinks Americans tend to be more optimistic  

than people back home in Germany, as she told  BBC World Service programme, CrowdScience:  

Well, I think the stereotypical perceptions  of Germans is that we’re quite pessimistic  

and that kind of tends to come across as being  a bit of a Debbie Downer, when in actuality,  

Germans just tend to be avid planners for all  eventual negative eventualities as well… so  

that’s kind of us being pessimistic but actually  being cautious, as opposed to for example,  

what I’ve notice in America that a lot of people  tend to be hyper-optimistic. I’ve always admired  

how Americans tend to be able to sugarcoat  everything. As a stereotypical pessimist,  

Hannah sometimes feels like a Debbie Downer. This  expression is American slang for someone who makes  

others feel bad by focussing on the depressing  aspects of things. Americans, on the other hand,  

are typically seen as optimists who tend to  sugarcoat things – make things seem better  

than they really are. According to Hannah, many  Americans are hyper-optimistic. She uses the  

prefix hyper to say that there is too much of a  certain quality. Hyper-sensitive people are too  

sensitive; a hyper-optimist is too optimistic.  Besides your country of birth, age is another  

consideration in the optimism debate. When we’re  young we have our whole life ahead of us, and it’s  

easier to optimistically believe that everything’s  going to be alright. The belief that everything’s  

going to be fine is called ‘the optimism bias’.  It isn’t fixed but changes as we age - something  

neuroscientist, Professor Tali Sharot, explained  to BBC World Service programme, CrowdScience:  

So it’s quite high in kids and teenagers – they  think, ‘Oh, everything’s going to be fine’,  

you know, and then it goes down, down, down and  it hits rock bottom in your midlife at which point  

the optimism bias is relatively small, and then  it starts climbing up again and it’s quite high  

in the elderly population, and that goes  absolutely against our view of the grumpy old  

man, or woman. After starting out high in  children, the optimism bias hits rock bottom – the  

lowest possible level – in middle age, often  because of work pressures, family responsibilities  

or caring for elderly parents. But optimism  seems to increase again as we get older. This is  

surprising as it goes against the image we have of  the grumpy old man – a phrase to describe someone  

who complains a lot, is moody and gets easily  annoyed. Optimistic women, meanwhile, can look  

forward to longer, healthier lives. Good news for  you then, Sam! But I’m sticking with my pessimism.  

If I anticipate things going wrong I don’t get  disappointed when they do! That’s actually a  

fairly positive way of looking at things, Neil,  but I’m not sure if most people would agree with  

you – or maybe they would… It depends on the  answer to your question… Right. I asked Sam what  

proportion of British people describe themselves  as optimistic. And optimistically, I said it was  

c) 80 percent. Which was… the correct answer!  Of course it was. Whether you expect good or bad  

things to happen to you, you’re probably right.  So why not focus on the sunny side of life, Neil?  

That way, you’ve got nothing to lose! OK, let’s  recap the vocabulary from this programme, Sam.  

You’re certainly a glass-half-full person –  someone with an optimistic attitude to life.  

And you’re something of a Debbie Downer  - American slang for someone who brings  

everyone down by talking about the negative  side of things. If you sugarcoat something,  

you make it appear more positive than it really  is. The prefix hyper is used before an adjective  

to show having too much of that quality,  for example hypercritical means being  

too critical. If something hits rock bottom it  reaches its lowest possible level. And finally,  

the phrase grumpy old man can be used to  describe someone who always complains,  

is intolerant and gets annoyed easily… a bit like Neil! Thank you very much. Unfortunately our six minutes are up,  but

join us again soon for more trending topics and useful vocabulary here at 6 Minute English. Goodbye for now. Bye!

Hello. This is 6 Minute  English from BBC Learning English. I'm Sam.  

And I'm Neil. In this programme, we're discussing  something we've heard a lot about during the  

pandemic - kindness. When was the last time you  did something kind for someone else, Sam? Hmmm,  

I gave my mum flowers last week. Ah, that  was kind. And how did it feel? It felt good  

knowing I'd made her happy. Right! It's something  that psychologists are starting to prove  

scientifically but that most of us knew all along:  we feel just as good being kind to someone else  

as when someone is kind to us. It reminds me  of something called a random act of kindness.  

Have you heard of that, Neil? Yes, things like  helping a stranger cross the road - small,  

everyday things people do to help others for  no other reason than to make them happy. Yes,  

and one of the main benefits of being kind  is that we feel the kindness in ourselves.  

It's called 'the gift that keeps on giving'  - and it reminds me of my quiz question.  

In 2021, a global survey conducted for the BBC's  'Kindness Test' asked people to name their top  

five random acts of kindness. So which kind act  came top? Was it: a) giving someone a smile? b)  

giving someone a hug? or c) giving someone your  time to just listen? They all sound wonderful but  

what I'd really like is a nice big hug! OK, Neil,  we'll find out later if that's the right answer.  

Now, that good feeling Sam got from giving her  mum flowers is something psychologists have become  

very interested in. During the past decade  over a thousand academic papers were written  

including the term 'kindness'. The author of  one such paper is Dr Dan Campbell-Meiklejohn,  

senior psychologist at the University of Sussex,  and researcher for the BBC's Kindness Test. Here  

is Dr Campbell-Meiklejohn discussing his findings  with BBC World Service programme, Health Check.  

What we know from the science is, and what can  seem counter-intuitive because giving can cost  

something of ourselves, is that we can experience  a sense of reward when we are kind to others... so  

like, when we eat a yummy food or have a pleasant  surprise, the parts of our brain that help us  

remember these nice experiences and motivated us  to do them again and again - they become active  

when we're kind. And we call this feeling  a warm glow. Usually giving something away,  

money for example, means we no longer  possess it. But kindness is different:  

both the giver of kindness and the receiver  experience what Dr Campbell-Meiklejohn calls  

a warm glow - an inner feeling of happiness.  Nevertheless, for some people giving something  

away equals losing it, so for them being  kind seems counter-intuitive - opposite to  

the way you expect things should happen. But  on a chemical level the brain doesn't agree!  

For our brain, being kind feels as good as any  other pleasurable activity, for example eating  

something yummy - something delicious which  tastes good. OK, Sam, I can see that being kind  

is great in my personal life. But what about the  ruthless world of business or politics - surely  

there's no place for kindness there? It's true  that in many countries politics involves fierce  

debate and criticism of anyone who disagrees  with you. But there are those who believe it  

doesn't have to be like that. Jennifer Nagel  for one. She's co-director of a movement called  

Compassion in Politics and author of the book, We,  written with the actor Gillian Anderson. Listen as  

Jennifer explains her vision to BBC World Service  programme, Health Check. Compassionate leadership  

leads to inclusive, cooperative outcomes which  lead to fairer societies, lower crime rates,  

higher levels of health and wellbeing. And yet  we have this idea that compassion somehow doesn't  

belong, that it can be dismissed in the same  way as women have been dismissed as something  

fluffy and a nice idea but not really practical.  But in fact, the science behind compassion  

is that it actually takes courage to act with  compassion. Jennifer wants politics to be based  

on compassion - a strong feeling of empathy with  the suffering of others and a wish to help them.  

She says kindness is sometimes  dismissed as fluffy - soft and woolly,  

something not considered serious or important.  But in fact, being compassionate is not easy  

and takes courage. Jennifer's is a strong voice  for a kinder, more compassionate society. But I  

bet even she could use a random act of kindness  now and again... maybe a hug? Ah that's right,  

Neil, a hug was one of the top five random acts  of kindness I asked about in my quiz question,  

along with smiling and listening. But which came  out on top? I said it was b) giving someone a hug.  

So, was I right? Giving a hug was... the wrong  answer, I'm afraid. The number one random act of  

kindness was a) giving a smile. But don't worry,  Neil - I have a big hug waiting for you here! Ah,  

thanks, Sam, that's so kind! OK, let's recap the  vocabulary from this discussion about random acts  

of kindness - small things people do to be kind to  others. Something counter-intuitive doesn't happen  

in the way you expect it to. Yummy means delicious  or tasting very good. A warm glow describes the  

pleasant inner feeling of happiness at doing  something kind. Compassion is a feeling of  

sympathy for the suffering of others and a wish to  help them. And finally, something fluffy is soft  

and woolly, not considered serious or important.  Our six minutes are up, but if you've enjoyed this  

programme, why not go out and perform your own  random act of kindness. Goodbye for now! Bye!