How the Mind Works
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.
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.
27 levels across 4 sections, about 54 minutes end to end, roughly 11 days at five minutes a day. It moves through The Everyday Mind, Inside the Machine, Who We Are, and The Mind's Health. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
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
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 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.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
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.
Where How the Mind Works takes you
- 1
The Everyday Mind
- Why We Do What We Do
- How We Learn
- 2
Inside the Machine
- The Filter of Memory
- The Thinking Brain
- The Emotional Compass
- 3
Who We Are
- The Puzzle of Personality
- Growing Up and Changing
- People in Groups
- 4
The Mind's Health
- Understanding Mental Health
4 sections · 9 units · 27 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
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.
More Psychology on Tomo
How the Mind Works
Go beyond definitions to understand the hidden forces driving human behavior, from the chemistry of your brain to the social pressure of a crowd.
How Your Mind Works
Explore the fascinating mechanics of human behavior and thought. Learn why you make certain choices, how habits form, and how to better understand the people around you.
Psychology of the Human Mind
Discover why people think, feel, and act the way they do by exploring the hidden patterns of human behavior and the science of the brain.
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.
Everyday Psychology
Make sense of why people think, react, and decide the way they do. Learn to spot mental shortcuts, understand emotional wiring, and see through invisible social pressures in everyday life.
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.
Start How the Mind Works today.
Download Tomo, search How the Mind Works, and play your first lesson in under a minute.