The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

1. Foundations of Psychology
The basics. Humans are predictable bags of habits and emotions.
• Structuralism
Mind = made of parts (sensations, thoughts).
Goal: break the mind into pieces to see how it works.
Think: “Let’s analyze your experience like a mechanic checks a car.”
• Functionalism
Mind = evolved tool for survival.
Focus: what thoughts/emotions do, not what they’re “made of.”
Think: “Fear exists to keep you alive, not to be studied under a microscope.”
• Psychoanalysis (Freud)
Your childhood, fears, cravings, and suppressed memories steer your behavior.
Unconscious mind = boss fight you don’t see.
Key ideas:
• Id = instinctual animal brain
• Superego = strict moral judge
• Ego = negotiator
• Defense mechanisms = excuses and self-lies
• Behaviorism
Humans are programmable.
Everything you do = learned from rewards and punishments.
• Humanism
Humans aren’t robots; they want meaning, growth, love, purpose.
Focus: potential and self-improvement.
• Cognitive Psychology
Mind = information processor.
Your thinking patterns shape your behavior.
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2. Developmental Psychology
How humans grow from baby to adult.
• Attachment theory
Kids need stable caregivers.
Four patterns:
• Secure
• Anxious
• Avoidant
• Disorganized
These usually repeat in adult relationships. Yes, your childhood haunts your dating life. Tough.
• Piaget (Stages of thinking)
Kids level up like a video game:
1. Sensorimotor: touching, exploring
2. Preoperational: imagination, but no logic
3. Concrete operational: basic logic
4. Formal operational: abstract thinking
• Vygotsky
Learning grows through social interaction and guidance from skilled people.
• Kohlberg (Moral development)
People grow morally:
• Avoid punishment
• Seek approval
• Follow rules
• Create own moral principles
• Erikson (Life stages)
8 stages of identity and crisis.
Each stage has a challenge like trust vs mistrust, identity vs confusion, etc.
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3. Social Psychology
Why people act different in groups.
• Conformity
People copy others to fit in.
Even if it’s dumb.
• Obedience (Milgram)
People follow authority, even when it’s horrifying.
Humans outsource responsibility fast.
• Groupthink
Groups get stupid when disagreement disappears.
Bad decisions come from forced harmony.
• Bystander effect
People ignore emergencies if others are around.
Everyone waits for someone else to act.
• Attribution theory
We guess why people do things:
• Internal cause: “he’s lazy”
• External cause: “he’s stressed”
But we misjudge a lot.
• Cognitive dissonance
When your actions and beliefs don’t match, your mind panics.
You either change your behavior or lie to yourself.
• Stereotypes, prejudice
Quick mental shortcuts. Sometimes accurate patterns. Sometimes biased trash.
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4. Intelligence & Learning
• Classical conditioning
Learning by association.
Bell + food → dog salivates.
Your habits work the same way.
• Operant conditioning
Rewards = behavior increases
Punishments = decreases
• Observational learning
People copy models (parents, influencers, peers).
• Multiple intelligences (Gardner)
Not one “IQ.”
Different types: logical, musical, social, physical, etc.
• Emotional intelligence
Knowing your emotions and managing them.
Cheap psychology influencers abuse this term.
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5. Memory & Cognition
• Memory systems
• Sensory: instant
• Short-term: few seconds
• Long-term: stored knowledge
• Schemas
Mental templates.
Example: “salesman” → fast-talker, confident, persuasive (stereotype).
Schemas help but also distort reality.
• Heuristics (mental shortcuts)
• Availability: “I saw it once, so it must be common.”
• Representativeness: “It fits the stereotype, so it must be true.”
• Anchoring: First number sticks in your head. Classic sales trick.
• Biases
Every human is predictable biased:
• Confirmation bias
• Hindsight bias
• Self-serving bias
• Halo effect
• Loss aversion
• Overconfidence
Your brain is not your friend.
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6. Emotion & Motivation
• Drive theory
Hunger, thirst, sex, safety = base drivers.
• Maslow
Human needs form a pyramid:
survival → safety → belonging → esteem → self-actualization.
• Self-determination theory
People want autonomy, competence, connection.
• James-Lange theory
Emotion comes from body reaction first.
• Cannon-Bard theory
Emotion and physical reaction happen together.
• Schachter-Singer
Emotion = physical reaction + your label for it.
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7. Personality
• Trait theory (Big Five)
OCEAN:
• Openness
• Conscientiousness
• Extraversion
• Agreeableness
• Neuroticism
Stable personality dimensions.
• Psychoanalytic (Freud again)
Personality comes from subconscious conflicts.
• Humanistic (Rogers)
You become your best self when accepted and understood.
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8. Mental Disorders
• Anxiety disorders
Excess fear and worry.
• Mood disorders
Depression, bipolar.
• Personality disorders
Persistent maladaptive behavior patterns.
• Schizophrenia
Break from reality; hallucinations, delusions.
• OCD
Obsessions + compulsions.
• PTSD
Trauma rewires threat systems.
• Eating disorders
Distorted body image + harmful eating behavior.
(If you ever mention self-destructive ideas, I’ll shut that down immediately.)
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9. Therapy & Treatment
• Psychoanalysis
Dig into unconscious conflicts.
• CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)
Fix your thoughts → fix your emotions → fix your behavior.
Very practical.
• Humanistic therapy
Empathy, acceptance, growth-focused.
• Behavior therapy
Recondition bad habits.
• Biological treatments
Medication, brain stimulation, etc.