Principles, methods and mental models from psychology, briefly explained.https://neur.ro/en/enhttps://neur.ro/en/anchoring/https://neur.ro/en/anchoring/A number you see before an estimate pulls your estimate towards it, even when you know it is random. It is one of the best-replicated effects in psychology. It helps to make your own estimate before you see other people's numbers.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://neur.ro/en/availability-heuristic/https://neur.ro/en/availability-heuristic/We judge how often something happens by how easily examples come to mind. It is often a good clue, but it misleads us when some examples are more memorable, more recent or more covered in the media than others. It helps to look for numbers, not just examples.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://neur.ro/en/circle-of-competence/https://neur.ro/en/circle-of-competence/How much you know matters less than knowing where your knowledge ends. Studies show that people judge their standing relative to others poorly, especially weak performers. How large the effect is and where it comes from are still debated.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://neur.ro/en/confirmation-bias/https://neur.ro/en/confirmation-bias/People tend to seek, choose and interpret evidence in favour of what they already believe. The tendency is well documented, but the term covers different phenomena, and some of them are weaker than often claimed. It helps to ask what you would see if you were wrong, and to look for exactly that.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://neur.ro/en/ego-depletion/https://neur.ro/en/ego-depletion/The idea that willpower is a limited resource, used up by every act of self-control, was one of the most cited in psychology. Large preregistered replications no longer found the effect in the lab. Fatigue is real, but the "willpower tank" remains an unsupported hypothesis.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://neur.ro/en/habit-formation/https://neur.ro/en/habit-formation/A habit forms by repeating the same behaviour in the same context until it becomes automatic. It doesn't take 21 days, as people say: in studies, the median was about two months, with very large differences from person to person.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://neur.ro/en/planning-fallacy/https://neur.ro/en/planning-fallacy/People usually underestimate how long their own projects will take, even when they know that similar projects ran late. It helps to start from how long similar cases took, not from your plan.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://neur.ro/en/regression-to-the-mean/https://neur.ro/en/regression-to-the-mean/An extreme result is usually followed by one closer to the average, even if you do nothing. If you don't account for this, you end up believing that praise hurts, criticism helps or a treatment worked, when it was only chance.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://neur.ro/en/spacing-and-retrieval/https://neur.ro/en/spacing-and-retrieval/You remember more in the long run if you split your studying into several sessions and test yourself instead of rereading. In the moment, rereading feels more effective, but after a few days testing clearly wins.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://neur.ro/en/sunk-cost/https://neur.ro/en/sunk-cost/Money, time or effort already spent won't come back, whatever you decide now. Still, people tend to keep going with something just because they have already invested in it. It helps to judge each decision by what comes next, not by what has been spent.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://neur.ro/en/compounding/https://neur.ro/en/compounding/When gains are added to the base and go on to earn gains of their own, growth is exponential, not linear. Studies show that people think linearly by intuition and badly underestimate this kind of growth, which leads them, for example, to put off saving.Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://neur.ro/en/cost-of-action-vs-inaction/https://neur.ro/en/cost-of-action-vs-inaction/Doing nothing is also a choice, with its own costs. Research shows that we judge harm caused by an action more harshly than the same harm caused by inaction, even though, looking back, we more often regret what we didn't do.Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://neur.ro/en/delayed-gratification/https://neur.ro/en/delayed-gratification/The ability to give up a small, immediate reward for a larger one that comes later. Research shows that it depends a lot on where you keep your attention and on how much you trust that the promised reward will actually come.Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://neur.ro/en/diminishing-returns/https://neur.ro/en/diminishing-returns/Each extra unit of a good thing usually brings less than the one before. For money, large studies show that well-being rises with income, but by roughly the same step for every doubling, not for every extra amount.Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://neur.ro/en/first-order-negative-second-order-positive/https://neur.ro/en/first-order-negative-second-order-positive/The immediate consequences of a decision (first-order) often pull in the opposite direction from the ones that follow them (second-order). Dalio argues that those who judge only by the first rarely reach their goals.Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://neur.ro/en/implementation-intentions/https://neur.ro/en/implementation-intentions/A plan of the form "if situation X arises, then I will do Y" that complements a goal. Two meta-analyses show that such plans increase the chances of moving from intention to action, especially when the goal really matters to you.Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://neur.ro/en/maximizing-vs-satisficing/https://neur.ro/en/maximizing-vs-satisficing/Some people look for the best possible option (maximizing), others choose the first option that clears their bar (satisficing). Studies by Schwartz and colleagues show that maximizers sometimes get objectively better outcomes but are less satisfied with them.Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://neur.ro/en/opportunity-cost/https://neur.ro/en/opportunity-cost/The real cost of a choice is the best alternative you give up. Studies show that people rarely think of that alternative on their own, but that a simple reminder of it changes their decisions. The effect is real, but smaller than first thought.Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://neur.ro/en/pareto-principle/https://neur.ro/en/pareto-principle/In many fields, a few causes produce most of the effect. This concentration is real and measurable, but the exact ratio varies a lot from case to case. "80/20" is an easy-to-remember formula, not a law.Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://neur.ro/en/via-negativa/https://neur.ro/en/via-negativa/Sometimes the best improvement is to take something away, not to add. Studies show that people reflexively look for additive solutions and miss subtractive ones, but that a simple reminder that they can also remove things changes their ideas.Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT