Concepts
The irreducible epistemic atoms underlying the curriculum. 4,828 atoms across 8 types
When organisms are repeatedly exposed to aversive situations
When organisms are repeatedly exposed to aversive situations they cannot control, they stop trying to escape — even when escape becomes possible.
Humans have a deep, evolutionarily encoded need…
Humans have a deep, evolutionarily encoded need for belonging that makes social disapproval register as a survival threat.
Self-efficacy beliefs are formed primarily through mastery…
Self-efficacy beliefs are formed primarily through mastery experiences—direct history of succeeding or failing at specific behaviors.
Variable ratio reinforcement schedules are the most…
Variable ratio reinforcement schedules are the most extinction-resistant reinforcement pattern in behavioral psychology.
The prefrontal cortex requires time to override limbic…
The prefrontal cortex requires time to override limbic responses.
The world is too vast, time too constrained, and individual…
The world is too vast, time too constrained, and individual intellect too limited for any person to gather first-hand evidence for more than a tiny fraction of their beliefs.
Implementation intentions (if-then plans) significantly…
Implementation intentions (if-then plans) significantly increase goal attainment by creating automatic cue-response links.
Emotions function as evaluative signals that provide…
Emotions function as evaluative signals that provide information about events that matter to the cognitive system.
Human cognition contains multiple motivational drives…
Human cognition contains multiple motivational drives that can generate competing demands simultaneously.
Values exist in a hierarchical structure with terminal…
Values exist in a hierarchical structure with terminal values (ends) and instrumental values (means) occupying distinct structural positions.
Verbal labeling of internal states activates prefrontal…
Verbal labeling of internal states activates prefrontal regulatory circuitry and reduces limbic reactivity.
Task-switching generates attention residue that persists…
Task-switching generates attention residue that persists after the switch and degrades performance on subsequent tasks.
Social rejection and anticipated social rejection activate…
Social rejection and anticipated social rejection activate the same neural pain processing regions as physical pain.
When a consistently reinforced behavior stops being…
When a consistently reinforced behavior stops being reinforced, the behavior initially intensifies before declining (extinction burst).
Humans systematically prefer to be consistent…
Humans systematically prefer to be consistent with their previous active, public, and effortful commitments.
Human motivation exists on a spectrum from controlled…
Human motivation exists on a spectrum from controlled to autonomous.
Human attentional systems evolved to prioritize signals…
Human attentional systems evolved to prioritize signals with high immediacy over signals with high importance.
Positive emotions broaden cognitive repertoire and build…
Positive emotions broaden cognitive repertoire and build durable personal resources.
Cognitive reappraisal (changing meaning before emotion…
Cognitive reappraisal (changing meaning before emotion forms) has lower cognitive cost than expressive suppression (inhibiting emotion after it forms).
Knowledge of cognitive biases does not reduce susceptibility
Knowledge of cognitive biases does not reduce susceptibility to those biases.
Groups exert constant pressure to align your thinking…
Groups exert constant pressure to align your thinking with the group consensus.
Scarcity of any resource consumes cognitive bandwidth…
Scarcity of any resource consumes cognitive bandwidth that would otherwise be available for other thinking.
Humans have a fundamental drive to evaluate their own…
Humans have a fundamental drive to evaluate their own opinions and abilities by comparing themselves to similar others when objective benchmarks are unavailable.
Psychological flexibility (the ability to adapt behavior…
Psychological flexibility (the ability to adapt behavior to context while maintaining values) predicts mental health and effective functioning.