Volume 1 · 310 essays

The Machine Between the Ears

Essays on how we think, feel, and fool ourselves. Every essay below is one page; they are arranged alphabetically, as in the book.

• 1Abilene Paradox
• 2Abstinence Violation Effect
• 3Abundance Denial Effect
• 4Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
• 5Achilles Effect
• 6Acquired Savant Syndrome
• 7Adiaphorizing Effect
• 8Affect as Information
• 9Affective Forecasting
• 10Affective Labeling
• 11Affective Misalignment
• 12Affective Significance
• 13Affective Tipping Point
• 14Affective Token
• 15Agamemnon Effect
• 16AI Flywheel Effect
• 17Alpha Insight Effect
• 18Amnesia Bias
• 19Anticipatory Obedience
• 20Aperitif Effect
• 21Atelophobia
• 22Attribution Bias
• 23Audience Effect
• 24Automaticity Paradox
• 25Availability Bias
• 26Avatar Effect
• 27Baader–Meinhof Effect
• 28Babe Ruth Effect
• 29Baiting Heuristic
• 30Baker/baker Paradox
• 31Ballot Order Effect
• 32Base Effect
• 33Batman Effect
• 34Beautiful Mess Effect
• 35Behavioral Activation
• 36Beneficial Brainwashing
• 37Better-Than-Average Effect
• 38Bias Blind Spot
• 39Biased Assimilation
• 40Biased-Competition Theory
• 41Binary Bias
• 42Black Sheep Paradox
• 43Blind Spot Matrix
• 44Blue Mind Effect
• 45Boomerang Effect
• 46Bus-Bunching Effect
• 47Buttered Cat Paradox
• 48Bystander Effect
• 49Cancellation Effect
• 50Caveman Effect
• 51Champion Bias
• 52Checker-Shadow Illusion
• 53Choice Supportive Bias
• 54Clinician’s Illusion
• 55Clinton Paradox
• 56Closeness-Communication Bias
• 57Clothesline Paradox
• 58Coach Effect
• 59Cocktail Party Effect
• 60Cognitive Bias Modification Technique
• 61Cognitive Distortions
• 62Cognitive Flexibility Theory
• 63Cognitive Load Theory
• 64Cognitive Miserliness
• 65Cognitive Patience
• 66Cognitive Reframing
• 67Cognitive Vaccine
• 68Collingridge Dilemma
• 69Commitment Paradox
• 70Competency Trap
• 71Complexity Bias
• 72Compressed Representations Schemas
• 73Concreteness Bias
• 74Conservatism Bias
• 75Control Paradox
• 76Control+Z Effect
• 77Coolidge Effect
• 78Coriolis Effect
• 79Decision by Distortion
• 80Decision-Making Continuum Dilemma
• 81Default Bias
• 82Delayed Intuition
• 83Delusional Positivity
• 84Depression Advantage
• 85Depressive Realism
• 86Depth Mind
• 87Derring Effect
• 88Desirable Difficulty
• 89Desire Lines
• 90Deterrence Paradox
• 91Diderot Effect
• 92Dilution Effect
• 93Distributive Cognition
• 94Diversity Illusion
• 95Doctor Coat Effect
• 96Domino Effect
• 97Donut Effect
• 98Double Effect Doctrine
• 99Dr Fox Effect
• 100Drucebo Effect
• 101Dumbstruck Effect
• 102Duration Effect
• 103Earned Dogmatism Effect
• 104Easterlin Paradox
• 105Effective Bandwidth
• 106Effective Blaming
• 107Effective Listening
• 108Effectiveness Asymmetry
• 109Efficiency Paradox
• 110Egocentric Bias
• 111Electronic Screen Syndrome
• 112Eliza Effect
• 113Environmental Dependency Syndrome
• 114Expectation Effect
• 115Expertise-Reversal Effect
• 116Explanatory Depth's Illusion
• 117Extended Mind
• 118Fading Affect Bias
• 119Fairness Illusion
• 120False Uniqueness Bias
• 121Female Effect
• 122Fisher's Fundamental Theorem
• 123Fixed-Pie Bias
• 124Flawed Hero Effect
• 125Floating Head Syndrome
• 126Florida Effect
• 127Fly-Eye Effect
• 128Ford's Fundamental Feedback Formula
• 129Foreign Language Effect
• 130Fortress Mindset
• 131Franklin Effect
• 132Fraud Paradox
• 133Frequency Illusion
• 134Fresh Start Effect
• 135Frustration Effect
• 136Garage Band Effect
• 137Gaze Heuristic
• 138General Adaptation Syndrome
• 139Goal-Gradient Effect
• 140Golem Effect
• 141Goodness Paradox
• 142Grit Scale
• 143Groucho Marx Effect
• 144Growth Paradox
• 145Gruen Effect
• 146Gustatory Illusion
• 147Halo Effect
• 148Hiatus Heuristic
• 149HIPPO Syndrome
• 150Hipster Effect
• 151Horror Paradox
• 152Hot Emotions and Cool Solutions
• 153Hot Stuff Bias
• 154Howard Hughes Syndrome
• 155Hume's Paradox
• 156Hypnosedation
• 157Identifiable Victim Effect
• 158Ideomotor Effect
• 159Illusion of Mastery
• 160Illusion of Validity
• 161Imitate-the-Successful Heuristic
• 162Impact Bias
• 163Impostor Syndrome
• 164Inattentional Blindness
• 165Index Mindset
• 166Insulation Effect
• 167Invisibility Cloak Illusion
• 168Ironic Mental Control
• 169Isolation Effect
• 170Item Response Theory
• 171January Effect
• 172Just Hang in There Mindset
• 173Just-World Bias
• 174Lactate Paradox
• 175Lake Wobegon Effect
• 176Last Name Syndrome
• 177Late-Mover Heuristic
• 178Law of Least Effect
• 179Linearity Bias
• 180Little Pond Effect
• 181Logotherapy
• 182Low-Birthweight Paradox
• 183Lucky Girl Syndrome
• 184Maintenance Paradox
• 185Man in the Car Paradox
• 186Man's Dilemma
• 187Mandela Effect
• 188Matchmaker Mindset
• 189Matthew Effect
• 190McGurk Effect
• 191Mental Accounting
• 192Mental Asterisk
• 193Mental Coach
• 194Mental Contrasting
• 195Mental Handicapping
• 196Mental Lab
• 197Mental Liquidity
• 198Mental Practice
• 199Mental Sharpe Ratio
• 200Mental Stick
• 201Mentorship Effect
• 202Mere Exposure Effect
• 203Mere Urgency Effect
• 204Meta-Anxiety
• 205Metachrosis Effect
• 206Metacognition
• 207Metastrategic Brainstorming
• 208Middle Bias
• 209Mirror Heuristic
• 210Mismatch Effect
• 211Moralistic Therapeutic Deism
• 212Mortality Paradox
• 213Mousetrapper
• 214Multiplier Effect
• 215Myopia Bias
• 216Myside Bias
• 217Mythology Mindset
• 218N-Effect
• 219Negative Review Effect
• 220Negativity Bias
• 221Neuro-Rights
• 222Normative Behavior
• 223Normative Dilution Effect
• 224Not Invented Here Syndrome
• 225Observer Effect
• 226Oil Slick Effect
• 227Ommission Bias
• 228One-variable Illusion
• 229Optimism Bias
• 230Optimism Trap
• 231Overblown Implications Effect
• 232Overjustification Effect
• 233Panopticon Effect
• 234Paracosm Paradox
• 235Paradox Mindset
• 236Paradox of Expertise
• 237Paradox of Thrift
• 238Parasite-Stress Theory
• 239Paris Hilton Effect
• 240Pay-It-Forward Effect
• 241Pedigrees Bias
• 242Pendulum Effect
• 243Perfectionist Trap
• 244Performance Paradox
• 245Performance Stress
• 246PERIMETERS Traps
• 247Perspective Blindness
• 248Pessimism Bias
• 249Pessimism Trap
• 250Peto’s Paradox
• 251Physical Bias
• 252Plan Continuation Bias
• 253Plateau Effect
• 254Pleasure Principle
• 255Polanyi's Paradox
• 256Poliheuristic Decision Theory
• 257Politeness Paradox
• 258Ponzo Illusion
• 259Positional Behavior
• 260Positive Psychology Interventions
• 261Power Paradox
• 262Pratfall Effect
• 263Prep Trap
• 264Present Bias
• 265Primacy-Recency Effect
• 266Principle of Empathic Cooperation
• 267Principle of Psychoprofessional Gravitation
• 268Priority Heuristics
• 269Proactive Paradox
• 270Procedure Heuristics
• 271Proprioceptive Psychology
• 272Prospective Bias
• 273Protégé Effect
• 274Proximity Bias
• 275Pseudo-Intelligibility Trap
• 276Psycho-Cybernetics
• 277Psychologist Dilemma
• 278Purchase Intention Trap
• 279Pygmalion Effect
• 280Quantification Bias
• 281Quantitative Intuition
• 282Quantitative Paradox
• 283Ratchet Effect
• 284Ratcheting Effect
• 285Recency Heuristic
• 286Recognition Heuristic
• 287Recovery Paradox
• 288Refrigerator Blindness
• 289Region-Beta Paradox
• 290Reiteration Effect
• 291Relative Age Effect
• 292Reperceiving
• 293Representativeness Bias
• 294Resiliency Trap
• 295Response Inhibition
• 296Retrieval Effect
• 297Reward Deficiency Syndrome
• 298Risky Shift Effect
• 299Roseto Effect
• 300Rubber Hand Illusion
• 301Rubber Pencil Illusion
• 302Saddle a Unicorn Illusion
• 303Safety Effect
• 304Salience Paradox
• 305Sawyer Effect
• 306Saying Is Believing Effect
• 307Scout Soldier Mindset
• 308Scream Therapy
• 309Screw-up Effect
• 310Selfless Brain