Applied Behavioral Psychology
Examine the unseen psychological forces shaping daily decisions, habits, and social interactions. Learn to spot behavioral patterns in real time and design environments that work with human nature.
Like Duolingo, but for Applied Behavioral Psychology. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
A short one: 12 levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes end to end, roughly 5 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Designing Better Choices and Social Context and Judgment. It assumes you already know the basics.
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Key ideas in Applied Behavioral Psychology
- Defaults convey an implicit recommendation from authority figures.
- Endorsement signals matter more than physical inertia in choices.
- Users assume architects chose the pre-set option for good reason.
- Sludge introduces deliberate administrative and cognitive burdens.
- Added friction frustrates users into abandoning intended choices.
- Sludge exploits self-regulation fatigue to preserve company revenue.
- A decoy is completely dominated by the target on all dimensions.
- Asymmetric dominance makes evaluating the target feel effortless.
- The decoy shifts focus from absolute price to relative value.
- A single default harms users when personal preferences vary widely.
- Active choosing forces conscious deliberation over trade-offs.
- Channel factors open immediate, concrete pathways to action.
- Tiny logistical hassles suppress behavior despite high intent.
- Boosting motivation often fails if physical friction remains.
- Hyperbolic discounting causes discount rates to drop steeply in the short term and flatten over longer horizons
- Present bias makes an immediate reward feel qualitatively distinct from waiting even a single day in the future
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Applied Behavioral Psychology the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
Why do people usually stick with pre-selected choices?
Get it right to open this lesson and 11 more in the app.
Where Applied Behavioral Psychology takes you
- 1
Designing Better Choices
- Choice Architecture and Defaults
- Closing the Intention-Action Gap
- 2
Social Context and Judgment
- Social Proof and Normative Influence
- De-Biasing High-Stakes Decisions
2 sections · 4 units · 12 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
Applied Behavioral Psychology is taught in the Explain Like I'm 5 style: no big words. promise.. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
More Psychology on Tomo
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Understand the hidden cognitive shortcuts and biases that shape daily choices. Learn how your mind evaluates options, forecasts emotions, and reacts to social pressure so you can make smarter calls.
Behavioral Psychology and Choice
Examine the unseen mechanisms that drive human action, from conditioning and environmental cues to cognitive nudges. Bridge empirical behaviorism with philosophical questions of agency, self-control, and moral responsibility.
The Hidden Architecture of Choice
Move beyond basic definitions to understand the invisible forces that shape human behavior, from the shortcuts our brains take to the way environments nudge our decisions.
Psychology and Human Behavior
Move beyond introductory trivia into the mechanisms governing how humans think, feel, and interact. Connect foundational theories to everyday decisions, social dynamics, and modern empirical science.
Psychology in Everyday Life
Uncover the psychological forces that shape your daily decisions, habits, and relationships. Learn practical mental models to recognize cognitive biases, communicate effectively, and manage stress.
Start Applied Behavioral Psychology today.
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