PsychologyThe StorytellerBeginner
How the Mind Works course icon

How the Mind Works

Like Duolingo, but for How the Mind Works. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.

For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.

27 bite-size levelsAbout 5 minutes each

Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android

Psy-Psy the Panda
How the Mind Works
with Psy-Psy the Panda
27
Levels
4
Sections
5
Min/day
What you'll learn

Key ideas in How the Mind Works

  • Psychology covers observable actions like walking or talking
  • Nature refers to biological and genetic inheritance
  • Psychology covers internal states like memories, emotions, and decision-making
  • Nurture refers to environmental influences and upbringing
  • Mental processes are inferred from behavior even if they aren't visible
  • Most human traits are a complex mix of both
  • Distinguishing between observable behaviors and internal mental processes
  • Categorizing traits as products of biology or environment
  • The environment provides 'stimuli' or triggers for behavior
  • Intrinsic motivation comes from the inherent enjoyment of the task
  • We learn to associate specific settings with specific ways of acting
  • Extrinsic motivation is driven by outside rewards or avoiding punishment
  • Behavior is often an automatic reaction to external cues
  • External rewards can sometimes decrease internal interest in a hobby
  • Differentiating between internal and external drivers of action
  • Identifying how environmental cues trigger specific behavioral responses
Why not just Google it

You've tried the other tabs

Wikipedia

Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.

YouTube

You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.

ChatGPT

One answer, then back to scrolling.

Online courses

Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.

Tomo gives How the Mind Works 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.

Try a question

Here's what playing it feels like

A real question from this course. Take your best guess.

The Hidden Roots of Action

Imagine you have your father's height and your mother's eye color. Which psychological force are we describing?

Get it right to open this lesson and 26 more in the app.

Course map

Where How the Mind Works takes you

Discover why we think, feel, and act the way we do. This course breaks down the mysteries of human behavior into simple insights you can use to understand yourself and others better.

  1. 1

    The Everyday Mind

    • Why We Do What We Do
    • How We Learn
  2. 2

    Inside the Machine

    • The Filter of Memory
    • The Thinking Brain
    • The Emotional Compass
  3. 3

    Who We Are

    • The Puzzle of Personality
    • Growing Up and Changing
    • People in Groups
  4. 4

    The Mind's Health

    • Understanding Mental Health

4 sections · 9 units · 27 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.

How it's taught

You pick the voice

This course
The Storyteller

How the Mind Works is taught in the The Storyteller style: every lesson is a story. 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.

Start free

Start How the Mind Works today.

Download Tomo, search How the Mind Works, and play your first lesson in under a minute.