Core Concepts of Psychology
Decode the hidden forces behind how people think, react, and connect. Learn the essential vocabulary and mechanisms that explain everyday human quirks and social behaviors.
Like Duolingo, but for Core Concepts of 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 Learning and Thinking and Social Forces and Perception. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Core Concepts of Psychology
- Classical conditioning attaches an involuntary, automatic reflex (like a racing pulse or salivation) to a previously neutral trigger
- The trigger was originally unrelated to the response until repeated pairings linked them in the nervous system
- The response happens automatically without any deliberate decision or voluntary action by the person
- Operant conditioning focuses on voluntary choices rather than automatic physical reflexes
- Reinforcements make a deliberate behavior more likely to happen again in the future
- Punishments make a deliberate behavior less likely to happen again in the future
- Intermittent reinforcement provides a reward only after an unpredictable number of attempts or intervals
- Unpredictable rewards make a behavior highly resistant to stopping, which is why gambling and checking social media feeds are so compulsive
- Behaviors rewarded 100% of the time stop much faster once the reward ceases because the absence is immediately obvious
- Extinction happens when the learned trigger or behavior repeatedly occurs without the expected outcome or reward
- Without the pairing or consequence, the learned association slowly fades away over time
- Simply blocking the stimulus (like wearing headphones) is not extinction; the stimulus must appear without the payoff
- Habituation is a natural decrease in neurological responsiveness after repeated exposure to a harmless, unchanging stimulus
- It protects limited attention and mental bandwidth so the brain can stay alert to unexpected or novel changes
- A sudden change in the environment immediately breaks habituation and pulls attention back
- A heuristic is a fast mental shortcut the brain uses to solve problems without calculating complex odds
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 Core Concepts of 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 does a normal ringtone suddenly make your heart thump after weeks of stressful calls?
Get it right to open this lesson and 11 more in the app.
Where Core Concepts of Psychology takes you
- 1
Learning and Thinking
- How Habits and Reflexes Form
- Mental Shortcuts and Blind Spots
- 2
Social Forces and Perception
- How Groups Influence the Individual
- Perception, Memory, and the Self
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
Core Concepts of Psychology is taught in the Bestie style: your friend who just gets it. 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
Psychology: How Minds Actually Work
Discover the hidden forces shaping your thoughts, choices, and relationships. Learn why your mind relies on cognitive shortcuts, how emotions and habits really operate, and how your brain constructs everyday reality.
The Psychology of Everyday Life
Discover why you think, feel, and act the way you do. This course turns the lens on your own mind to reveal the hidden patterns that drive your daily decisions and social interactions.
The Psychology of Everyday Behavior
Discover why you think, react, and decide the way you do. Learn the core principles of cognitive and social psychology to read human behavior with clarity.
Why We Do What We Do
Unpack the invisible forces shaping your thoughts, feelings, and everyday choices. Learn to spot mental blind spots, read social dynamics, and understand the brain's capacity for change.
Understanding Human Behavior
Explore why people think, feel, and act the way they do. From common cognitive blind spots to social influence and habit formation, gain a clear working knowledge of modern psychological science.
Psychology for Everyday Life
Discover why people think, act, and feel the way they do through classic experiments and modern behavioral science. Turn abstract theories into practical tools for understanding yourself and navigating everyday interactions.
Start Core Concepts of Psychology today.
Download Tomo, search Core Concepts of Psychology, and play your first lesson in under a minute.