A curated collection of 40 psychology laws, cognitive biases, and decision-making patterns with real-world applications. Interactive quiz, in-depth guides, and scenario-based learning.
- 40 Psychology Laws — Comprehensive coverage of cognitive biases, behavioral effects, decision-making traps, and systems principles
- Interactive Quiz — Mind Traps game with 40 laws, 8 real-world scenarios each (320+ scenarios)
- In-Depth Guides — Detailed explanations for each law with origins, examples, and applications
- Decision Frameworks — How to recognize and counteract each bias in practice
- Open Source — All content freely available, fully documented, MIT licensed
Biases and effects that shape how we interpret the world.
| # | Law | Description | Read More |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Confirmation Bias | We search for, interpret, and remember information that confirms our existing beliefs | Read → |
| 2 | Anchoring Effect | The first number we encounter shapes all subsequent judgments | Read → |
| 3 | Primacy Effect | First information disproportionately shapes our overall impression | Read → |
| 4 | Recency Effect | Most recent information disproportionately shapes final judgment | Read → |
| 5 | Halo Effect | A positive impression in one area causes us to assume excellence in unrelated areas | Read → |
| 6 | Barnum Effect | We readily accept vague, general descriptions as uniquely accurate about ourselves | Read → |
| 7 | Kuleshov Effect | Meaning of an image is determined by what precedes it, not the image itself | Read → |
Biases in how we judge ourselves and our competence.
| # | Law | Description | Read More |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Dunning-Kruger Effect | Limited competence leads to overestimation; experts tend to underestimate | Read → |
| 9 | Spotlight Effect | We vastly overestimate how much others notice our appearance and mistakes | Read → |
| 10 | Hawthorne Effect | People change behavior when they know they're being observed | Read → |
| 11 | IKEA Effect | We place disproportionately high value on things we partially created | Read → |
| 12 | Segal's Law | One watch tells you the time; two watches make you uncertain | Read → |
How social context and others influence our behavior.
| # | Law | Description | Read More |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Authority Bias | We place excessive trust in opinions and instructions of perceived authorities | Read → |
| 14 | Herd Mentality | Individuals follow the majority, overriding independent judgment | Read → |
| 15 | Bystander Effect | More people present in emergency = less likely any individual helps | Read → |
| 16 | Blind Following Effect | Followers replicate leader behavior even when clearly dysfunctional | Read → |
| 17 | Ben Franklin Effect | Doing someone a favor makes you like them more — not the reverse | Read → |
| 18 | Door-in-the-Face Technique | Large request first, then smaller request succeeds more often | Read → |
| 19 | Pygmalion Effect | Higher expectations from authority figures lead to higher performance | Read → |
Patterns that affect how we make decisions and take action.
| # | Law | Description | Read More |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Sunk Cost Fallacy | We irrationally continue investments because of past costs | Read → |
| 21 | Analysis Paralysis | Too many options or too much information leads to indecision | Read → |
| 22 | Peak-End Rule | We judge experiences by peak moment and ending, not total duration | Read → |
| 23 | Parkinson's Law | Work expands to fill the time available for its completion | Read → |
| 24 | Birdcage Effect | Owning one object creates pressure to acquire its complements | Read → |
| 25 | Gambler's Fallacy | Past random events mistakenly believed to influence future independent events | Read → |
| 26 | Survivorship Bias | Draw conclusions from visible successes while ignoring invisible failures | Read → |
How competition and threat affect motivation and behavior.
| # | Law | Description | Read More |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | Catfish Effect | Competitive threat revives performance in complacent groups | Read → |
| 28 | Gadfly Effect | External irritation activates latent potential in complacent groups | Read → |
| 29 | Matthew Effect | Early advantages compound: the more you have, the more you gain | Read → |
| 30 | Ratchet Effect | Standards adjust upward easily but resist downward movement | Read → |
| 31 | 10,000-Hour Rule | World-class expertise requires approximately 10,000 hours of deliberate practice | Read → |
How small changes cascade through systems; unintended consequences.
| # | Law | Description | Read More |
|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | Butterfly Effect | Tiny changes in initial conditions cascade into dramatically different outcomes | Read → |
| 33 | Domino Effect | One event triggers a cascade of related events in interconnected systems | Read → |
| 34 | Cobra Effect | Well-intentioned solutions often make the original problem worse | Read → |
| 35 | Weakest Link | A system's performance is limited by its weakest component | Read → |
| 36 | Pareto Principle (80/20) | Roughly 80% of outcomes come from 20% of causes | Read → |
How we measure, communicate, and seek information.
| # | Law | Description | Read More |
|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | Goodhart's Law | When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure | Read → |
| 38 | Streisand Effect | Attempts to suppress information often amplify it dramatically | Read → |
| 39 | Tunnel Vision Effect | Under stress, attention narrows so severely broader problems are missed | Read → |
| 40 | Murphy's Law | Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong — at the worst moment | Read → |
- 40 psychology laws
- 8 real-world scenarios per law
- 320+ decision-making scenarios
- Instant feedback with explanations
- Free, no login required
- ~20 minutes to complete
Quick reference with links to all 40 laws, organized by category.
Each law in the Psychology Laws Index includes:
- Historical origins & research
- Real-world examples
- Practical applications
- Decision frameworks
- Start with Mind Traps Quiz to test your understanding
- Click "Read More" on laws that intrigue you
- Apply frameworks to real decisions in your work and life
- Browse by category (perception, social, decisions, systems, etc.)
- Use as quick lookup when analyzing decisions
- Bookmark individual law pages for later study
- Link to specific laws in your content
- Use examples in teaching materials
- Reference in research or analysis
| Category | Count | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| How We Perceive Information | 7 | Biases in interpretation, attention, judgment |
| Self-Awareness & Knowledge | 5 | Competence, confidence, self-perception |
| Social Dynamics & Influence | 7 | Authority, conformity, helping behavior |
| Decision-Making & Action | 7 | Sunk costs, analysis, experience judgment |
| Competitive Dynamics | 5 | Motivation, advantage, learning curves |
| Systems & Consequences | 5 | Cascades, unintended effects, constraints |
| Measurement & Information | 4 | Metric gaming, suppression, stress effects |
| Total | 40 | Comprehensive psychology & decision-making |
"Information doesn't change minds; it strengthens them." (Confirmation Bias)
People seek evidence that confirms existing beliefs, not evidence that challenges them.
"Early advantages compound." (Matthew Effect)
Small initial advantages create self-reinforcing cycles that accelerate over time.
"Expertise looks like uncertainty." (Dunning-Kruger)
Experts see more unknowns; beginners don't know what they don't know.
"Solutions create new problems." (Cobra Effect)
Good intentions frequently backfire when applied to complex systems.
Key thinkers whose work underpins these 40 laws:
- Daniel Kahneman — Thinking, Fast and Slow (Nobel Prize, behavioral economics)
- Nassim Taleb — Antifragile, Black Swan (risk & uncertainty)
- James Clear — Atomic Habits (compound effects, decision systems)
- Robert Cialdini — Influence (persuasion & social psychology)
- Nassim Taleb — The Logic of Scientific Discovery (falsifiability)
Recommended next step: Start with Mind Traps Quiz, then read the detailed guides for laws that surprise you.
This collection welcomes contributions:
- Fix links — Report broken links to laws
- Improve descriptions — Suggest clearer explanations
- Add examples — Share real-world scenarios
- Translate — Help translate to other languages
See CONTRIBUTING.md for details.
MIT License — Use, modify, and share freely.
See LICENSE for full terms.
Created by Ordinary Man Trying — exploring psychology, decision-making, and human behavior through interactive tools and in-depth guides.
Resources:
- Website: https://ordinarymantrying.com/
- Interactive Quiz: https://ordinarymantrying.com/tools/mind-traps.html
- Law Index: https://ordinarymantrying.com/tools/psychology-laws-index.html
If this collection helps your decision-making:
- ⭐ Star this repository — Helps others discover it
- 🔗 Share it — Link from your projects or writing
- 📝 Contribute — Submit improvements
- 💬 Give feedback — Help us improve
Last Updated: 2026-07-04
Status: 40 Laws Complete | 320+ Scenarios | Links Verified | Open for PRs
License: MIT