Psychology, 14–17 years — 20 topics · MyLeoNes™ Kuks
20 psychology topics written for 14–17 years — not a older text simplified. In teaching order, each a deck of five cards: the idea, why it exists, a worked example, the common trap and where you meet it.
Psychology · 14–17 years
Correlation is not causation
Two things can change together without one causing the other. Psychology needs this distinction to judge claims about behaviour fairly.
Classical conditioning
A neutral signal can acquire an emotional or bodily meaning after repeated pairing with something that already matters. This explains some learned reactions without treating them as deliberate choices.
The limits of working memory
Working memory is the small mental workspace used to hold and manipulate information for a short time. Its limits explain why clear steps and reduced distraction help thinking.
Confirmation bias
We often notice and remember evidence that supports what we already think, while giving less attention to evidence against it. Recognising this habit improves judgement without pretending to be completely neutral.
Operant conditioning
How consequences make a behaviour more or less likely to happen again.
Cognitive dissonance
The uncomfortable tension between what we believe, feel and do, and how we try to reduce it.
The bystander effect
Why people may be slower to help in a group, especially when responsibility feels shared.
The availability heuristic
Why an example that comes easily to mind can seem more common or likely than it really is.
The placebo effect
Expectations can change how a person feels, even when a treatment has no active medical ingredient. The effect is real, but it does not mean every illness can be cured by belief.
The fundamental attribution error
When explaining another person’s behaviour, we often focus too much on their personality and too little on the situation. Seeing this bias helps us judge people more fairly without pretending that situations explain everything.
The anchoring effect
A first number or idea can pull later estimates towards it, even when it should not matter much. Knowing this makes it easier to pause before accepting a price, estimate or opinion as a natural starting point.
Social loafing
People may put in less effort when working in a group than when their individual contribution is clearly visible. This is not inevitable or a sign of bad character; clear roles and visible responsibility can change the conditions.
Self-serving bias
We often explain success as our own ability but failure as the result of circumstances. This bias can protect confidence, yet it can also hide useful lessons.
The halo effect
One noticeable quality can colour our judgement of a whole person. This helps us make quick impressions, but it can also make one good or bad feature seem like proof of everything else.
Circadian rhythms and sleep
Your body runs a roughly 24-hour timing system that helps coordinate sleep, alertness and body temperature. Light, habits and age can shift it, which is one reason teenagers may feel awake late and tired early.
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
Motivation is not one single force. We may act because an activity is satisfying in itself, because it leads to a reward, or because several reasons work together.
Observational learning
We can pick up behaviours by watching what other people do and what happens to them.
Mental schemas
Schemas are mental patterns that help us organise what we know and predict what usually happens.
Self-fulfilling prophecy
An expectation can change how people act, sometimes helping to produce the result that was expected.
The Big Five personality traits
The Big Five describe personality with five broad dimensions rather than putting people into fixed types.
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