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Psychology sketches

Explore sketches, drawings, and illustrations that simplify ideas related to Psychology.

What is Murphy’s Law? Meaning and example shown by a giant box labeled “This Way Up” lying upside down showing "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."Murphy's LawWhat is Grandma’s Rule? Illustration of the Premack Principle showing a child told ‘Vegetables first, then dessert’ and the First, Then RuleGrandma's Rule: First___, Then___The Trolley Problem original variant with the runaway trolley and moral dilemma of switching the tracksThe Trolley ProblemWhat is the meaning of cognitive offloading? Shown by delegating our critical thinking to tools like calculators or AI chatbotsCognitive Offloading: Delegating Our ThinkingDon't think of an elephant framing example where even negating a frame activates itDon't Think of an ElephantExamples of variable rewards and their irresistible addictive power to get us hooked like the reward chest, email, and gamblingVariable RewardsWhat is the Fight or Flight response example with someone deciding to fight, flight or freeze from a snakeFight or FlightGestalt principles of visual perception showing proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, figure and ground, symmetry and order, and common fate.Gestalt principlesWhat is a Public commitment pledge explanation - a soft commitment device shown by someone battling a desire to eat cookies with a public commitmentPublic commitment pledgeThe Fundamental Attribution Error illustration: a driver assuming someone is rude when they swerved in front of them rather than considering that they may have been running late and it been an accident - attributing character over contextThe Fundamental Attribution ErrorThe Barnum effect (also the Forer effect) illustrated by 3 people, each getting the same seemingly personalised personality test result and figuring it described them perfectly.The Barnum effectWhat is Self-serving bias example explained: two tennis players think on their contrasting fortunes, the winner proud of their athleticism (character), and the loser blaming the umpire (the situation).Self-serving biasThe Droste effect illustration: where the picture contains the picture which contains the picture which contains the picture...The Droste effectDark patterns: using design to deceive, like hiding the 'I don't need insurance' option in the country list rather than as its own optionDark patternsThe isolation effect: remembering better what stands out from a set of otherwise like items in a set. Also known as the Von Restorff effectThe isolation effectWhat is attribution bias example explained: a parent consoling a child and correcting their attribution of winning and losing to the situation and actions not to personal traitsAttribution biasWhat is Optimism bias example explained: A stunt rider overestimates their chance of leaping a canyon thanks to optimism bias. Various onlookers gasp. "Huh" says the riderOptimism biasTwo people enjoying a dialogue, one falling asleep to a monologue, and one being distracted from their book by a halfalogueHalfalogueThe side of a pyramid of needs: physiological, safety, love-belonging, esteem, self-actualizationMaslow's hierarchy of needsA sketch of extrinsic motivation with a donkey being followed by a man with a stick and in turn following a carrot that's strapped always just out of reachExtrinsic motivationPhysics envy: a football coach looks on exasperated as none of his young team play according to the planPhysics EnvyThe Rhyme As Reason Effect illustration: whilst on a stroll, one friend shrewdly convinces the other about how aphorisms that rhyme tend to be more believable, by including a rhyme in their statement. The Rhyme As Reason EffectContext is King illustration: the capital letters A, B and C are handwritten in sequence on the top row. On the bottom row, it's the numbers 12, 13 and 14 - again handwritten. When you look closely, you notice that the letter B and the number 13 take exactly the same form. It is only the characters that come before and after in each sequence that define them. Context is kingLanguishing illustration: an unmotivated, apathetic figure sits slumped in an armchair with a TV remote in hand, clearly fed up and demoralised - for the time being at least. LanguishingConfirmation bias: people dressed in blue buy the blue newspapers at a newsstand while some reds are buying the red papers.Confirmation biasFact Tennis illustration: two individuals with tennis racquets knock unproductive, point-scoring arguments back and forth over a pile of laundry. Fact tennisThe bystander effect: a lady sits dazed on the floor in a busy train station while others ignore her or walk on by — someone really ought to check she's okThe Bystander EffectWhat is Flow: the psychology of optimal experience illustrated with climbing, clear goals, feedback and matched challengeFlowThe Goal-Gradient Effect: the closer we get to a goal the harder we try - coffee stamps exampleThe goal-gradient effectCommitment device illustration: Odysseus asking his men to tie him to the mast so that he can resist the siren's song who are kind flying womenCommitment deviceThe Boaty McBoatface effect: Someone holding up a poll for the naming of a boat which was vote-bombed to be Boaty McBoatface for a laughThe Boaty McBoatface effectApophenia example: two hikers look up into the sky with surprise to see a cloud in the form of Godzilla!ApopheniaWhat is The Overview Effect example explained: the classic moonrise photo from the Apollo 11 moon missions with 2 astronauts have a bit of a moment and need to sit down when taking in the majestic view of Earth from the moon and realise this is all we've got.The Overview Effect A Profound Shift in PerspectiveThe 3 day effect: A hiker sets off up a mountain, as each day goes by, thinking less about the work they were doing before they cameThe 3-day effectProportionality Bias illustration: a dice has landed on a six and the person who rolled it gave it a really good shake beforehand. Proportionality biasThe Abilene paradox: a family sets out on a trip to Abilene on a hot dusty day only to discover on the way back that none of them actually wanted to goThe Abilene paradoxImposter Syndrome illustration: even as an appreciative audience applaud, an award recipient at the rostrum on stage questions whether they actually deserve this recognition. Imposter syndromeThe Trust Equation illustration: set out as a mathematical equation, we understand that the trust we have in someone professionally is proportional to how credible they are in their field, how dependable they are and how safe you feel around them. That trust is inversely proportional to how self-orientated they are. The trust equationThe Availability Heuristic illustration: Plane crashes, cold snaps, and winning lottery tickets are shown as examples of uncommon but widely reported events that might affect the significance we associate with them. The availability heuristic (and bias)What is Dunbar's number example explained: a person can't remember the name of the one person outside their circles of closer friends, super family, clan and tribe behind themDunbar’s number: 150The Implicit Association Test illustration: using gender roles as an example, we are asked to sort Career words into a Men's column and Home/Family words into a Women's column. We are then asked to do the opposite. One's bias is calculated as the difference in time it takes to complete both tasks. The Implicit Association TestAutonomy Mastery Purpose summary of Dan Pink's book DriveWhat drives us: autonomy, mastery, purposeThe Spotlight Effect illustration: two individuals greet one another, each illuminated by an intense spotlight as if on stage - and each secretly worry about how the other perceives their appearance.The spotlight effectWhat is The Effect Effect explained: two colleagues are left in no doubt as to the veracity of research presented to them because it has been labelled as an "effect". Indeed, one heads straight off to tell their friends about it. The Effect EffectThe Misattribution of Arousal illustration: a couple in the early stages of romance reflect on how excited they were to ride on a roller coaster together. Was the excitement due to each others' company or the roller coaster itself? Or maybe a bit of both? The misattribution of arousalWhat is crossmodal perception example showing that coffee tastes better when the machine is quiet and why plane food is less tastyCrossmodal perceptionThe Lucretius Problem illustration: examples of the biggest occurrences in history, like a market crash, a volcano eruption, a long drought and a traffic delay tend to be perceived as the biggest there could ever be. The Lucretius problemGaslighting illustration: an individual making a speech at their lectern tells lie after lie after lie. As the lies keep coming an audience member starts to question their own, previously firm, understanding. Gaslighting9-enders (nine-enders) explanation: people approaching their 30s, 40s and 50s, examining their lives for meaning and setting off skydiving, running marathons and climbing Everest9-Enders (nine-enders)Buyer's remorse illustration: a customer hands over cash to a car dealer seemingly very excited about their new purchase. At the wheel of their new car as they drive away, they begin to question their decision. Buyer’s remorseWhat is The Singularity Effect explained: a line graph shows how the value of and compassion for saving a life quickly diminishes as the number of lives at risk increases. The singularity effectEmotional hot potato cartoon: spreading a bad mood through a family to the dog who pees on the floorEmotional hot potatoPsychic Numbing Illustration: A radio plays out the news headlines. The story about a young girl is met with empathy. Another story about thousands of people dying is met with apathy. Psychic numbingJohari Window model illustrating self-awareness through feedback and disclosure in four quadrants: Open Self, Blind Spot, Hidden Self, and Unknown Self.Johari Window — A Model for Self-Awareness, Feedback, and Personal GrowthNominative determinism examples — or an aptronym — with 3 books and their nominatively deterministic authorsNominative determinismWhat is the Peak-end rule example: chart showing two experience lines, one with more downs that ends on a high that's remembered as better than the one that's more steady throughoutThe peak-end ruleThe Kübler-Ross Stages of Grief Model in a chart with stages: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, AcceptanceStages of griefWhat is The Prisoner's Dilemma shown in an example - When following self-interest can be a worse outcome for allThe prisoner’s dilemmaWhat is the Nocebo Effect with example: expectation of negative consequences of a treatment increases the chances people will feel themThe nocebo effectWhat is the Placebo Effect example where receiving treatment helps people feel better even if the treatment does nothing.The placebo effectPlutchik's Wheel of Emotions: a colourful wheel showing how emotions mixMapping emotionsWhat is the IKEA effect example explained - sketch shows a person that put an IKEA table together by themselves, and although it's not a perfect build they still love it, because they put it togetherThe IKEA effectCognitive bias, heuristic, logical fallacy: hidden features of the mindBenefits to you from getting started chart — put it off and stress about it = no benefit, start now with something = some benefitBenefits to you from getting startedAn energised person at 9 am closely contemplates a file while at noon they're down to 'whatever'Don’t make important decisions on an empty stomachPrices written smaller seem more affordable examplePrices written smaller seem more affordableA 2 x 2 grid for competence and consciousness showing the progression between themStages of competence frameworkThe Lake Wobegon EffectCognitive overheadFigure and ground illustration: faces or a candlestick/vaseFigure and groundThe Firehouse EffectCore components of riskThe Stroop testWhat is the Betty Crocker effect explained with an illustration about adding an eggThe Betty Crocker EffectSneaky casinosSneaky cognitive biases: hindsight bias, loss aversion, recency biasThe Anchoring biasAnchoringHyperbolic discountingPresent biasThe moon illusion - psychology and causes still debatedThe moon illusionThe expanding circle of attentionFast and slow thinkingMaslow’s Hierarchy of needsThe 4 pillars of too much: too much stuff, too many choices, too much info and too fastThe four pillars of too muchIf money doesn't make you happy then you probably aren't spending it right. Tips to spend better from Dunn, Gilbert, Wilson, 2011Spend better
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