Why do people react so differently to the same situation?
Explore prediction, previous experience, physiology, development and context.
Understanding behaviour
Human behaviour makes more sense when we understand the system producing it.
Explore how brain, body, development, experience, relationships and environment interact across everyday human behaviour.
Start with the question or situation that brought you here. You can explore without having to know the explanation first.
Start with what is happening
What brought you here?
Why does stress change how we think and act?
Understand how state can alter access to attention, memory, flexibility and control.
Why are habits so difficult to change?
Explore learning, prediction, repetition, reward and energy-efficient brain processes.
Why does context matter so much?
Consider how relationships, environment and expectations become part of experience.
Why can behaviour seem irrational?
Look beneath conscious explanation to the processes operating before behaviour becomes visible.
I simply want to understand people better
Follow a broad pathway through the biology and psychology of human behaviour.
A way through
Understanding before intervention.
- 01
Understand
Look beneath what you can see and begin with the whole person.
- 02
Explore
Consider the systems, experiences and conditions that may matter.
- 03
Consider
Bring the pieces together without assuming one explanation is the answer.
- 04
Find a way forward
Use understanding to guide supportive next steps and useful resources.
Explore
What might be relevant?
Different domains can interact. These are places to explore, not conclusions about the person.
Brain & nervous system
Understand the biological system from which behaviour emerges.
Body & physiology
Explore how bodily state participates in thought, emotion and action.
Development
See behaviour in the context of change across the lifespan.
Experience & memory
Consider how learning and previous experience shape present responses.
Relationships
Explore how other people become part of our predictive and developmental environment.
Environment
Understand why behaviour cannot be separated completely from context.
The person
Consider
No single piece necessarily explains behaviour.
Understanding develops when we consider how different conditions may interact for this person, in this context, at this time.
Possible contributors are hypotheses to explore, not conclusions about the person.
Find a way forward
Resources to help you understand more.
Educational information
These resources can help deepen understanding of what may be worth considering. They do not determine why a particular person is behaving in a particular way and do not replace individual clinical assessment, diagnosis, medical advice, safeguarding or other appropriately qualified professional support.