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Video 1: Cognitive Dissonance Theory: A Crash Course
Description: Watch this short but thorough review of what cognitive dissonance is, its consequences, and how we can resolve it. Helpful examples are provided.

Video 2: The Science of Persuasion
Description: This animated video describes the six universal Principles of Persuasion that have been scientifically proven to make you most effective. The video is narrated by Dr. Robert Cialdini, who has spent his entire career researching the science of influence, earning him a worldwide reputation as an expert in the fields of persuasion, compliance, and negotiation.

Video 3: How Ads (and People) Persuade You
Description: If you can recognize when you're being persuaded, it's a lot easier to make sure your opinions are actually your own. This video includes an excellent presentation of the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), and the factors that make it more likely that you will be persuaded by either the central or peripheral route.

Audio 1: How the “Hidden Brain” Does the Thinking for Us
Description: After making a silly mistake, it's not uncommon for a person to say, “Oops--I was on autopilot.” In this National Public Radio report, you will learn how there's actually a lot of truth to that. Our brains have two modes--conscious and unconscious, pilot and autopilot--and we are constantly switching back and forth between the two.

Audio 2: The Culture Inside
Description: Is there a part of ourselves that we don't acknowledge, that we don't even have access to and that might make us ashamed if we encountered it? In this episode of Invisibilia from National Public Radio (NPR), we begin with a woman whose left hand takes instructions from a different part of her brain. It hits her, and knocks cigarettes out of her hand and makes her wonder: who is issuing the orders? Is there some other “me” in there I don't know about? We then ask this question about one of the central problems of our time: racism. Scientific research has shown that even well-meaning people operate with implicit bias--stereotypes and attitudes we are not fully aware of that nonetheless shape our behavior towards people of color. We examine the Implicit Association Test (IAT), a widely available psychological test that popularized the notion of implicit bias. And we talk to people who are tackling the question, critical to so much of our behavior: what does it take to change these deeply embedded concepts? Can it even be done?

Audio 3: Dialogue and Exchange
Description: We're living in a time of intense ideological division, and it often feels impossible to bridge the gap. But can we afford not to? In this timely and thought-provoking episode of TED Radio, listen to speakers explore how to communicate across the divide, and how they succeeded.