Chapter 1 Exercises: Why Psychology Matters

How to Use These Exercises

These exercises range from brief reflections (5–10 minutes) to extended projects (several sessions). Each is labeled with: - Level 1 — Low intensity: journaling, awareness, brief reflection - Level 2 — Moderate: structured self-assessment, behavioral experiment - Level 3 — Challenging: extended self-examination, difficult conversations, sustained practice

There is no requirement to complete all exercises. Choose what fits your situation and level of readiness.

Part A: Foundations

Exercise 1.1 — The Introspection Inventory (Level 1 | 10 minutes)

Think of a decision you made recently — anything from what to eat, to a work choice, to how you responded in a conversation.

Write your answers to these questions: 1. What did you decide? 2. Why did you make that choice? Write three reasons. 3. Now challenge each reason: Is this the real reason, or the reason I tell myself? How would you know the difference? 4. What would someone observing from outside the situation say drove your choice?

Reflection prompt: What does this exercise reveal about the reliability of your self-knowledge?

Exercise 1.2 — Levels of Analysis Practice (Level 2 | 15–20 minutes)

Choose a situation from your own life that you find puzzling or difficult — a relationship conflict, a recurring habit you can't break, a persistent emotion you don't fully understand.

Analyze it using all six levels:

Reflection prompt: Which level is easiest for you to think in? Which level did you initially resist? What might that resistance tell you?

Exercise 1.3 — The Attribution Audit (Level 2 | 20 minutes)

Over the next three days, keep a brief log of moments when you make attributions about other people's behavior.

For each instance, note: 1. What did the person do? 2. What did you immediately conclude about why (dispositional attribution: they are like this)? 3. What situational factors might you have overlooked? 4. If you imagined your closest friend doing the same thing, would you explain it the same way?

Reflection prompt: Do you notice any patterns in when you make dispositional vs. situational attributions? Are you more charitable toward yourself or others?

Exercise 1.4 — Your Psychological Autobiography (Level 3 | 45–60 minutes)

Write a brief psychological autobiography — a sketch, not an essay — using the following prompts:

1. The household you grew up in: What was the emotional climate? What was rewarded? What was punished? What was never discussed?

2. Your earliest memory of feeling different from who you "should" be: When did you first sense a gap between your inner experience and what was expected of you?

3. The stories you've told about yourself: What narrative do you use to explain your life to others? ("I'm the one who..."; "In my family, I was always...")

4. The chapter you haven't written: What aspect of your history or self do you find hardest to look at directly?

Reflection prompt: What do you already know about yourself that psychology is likely to confirm? What might it complicate?

Part B: Applying the Core Concepts

Exercise 1.5 — Fast and Slow (Level 1 | 10 minutes)

Think of three recent decisions or reactions:

Reflection prompt: Are there situations where you tend to rely on System 1 when System 2 would serve you better? And vice versa?

Exercise 1.6 — The Discomfort Journal (Level 2 | Ongoing)

As you read this book, keep a dedicated section in your journal for moments of discomfort — things that sting slightly, land harder than expected, or make you want to skip to the next section.

For each discomfort, write: 1. What specifically triggered it? 2. What does it threaten or challenge about how you see yourself? 3. Is the discomfort pointing toward something useful?

Purpose: Discomfort is signal. This exercise trains you to move toward your own reactions rather than away from them.

Exercise 1.7 — The Person-Situation Matrix (Level 2 | 20 minutes)

Make a grid. On one axis, list four or five roles or contexts: work, with close friends, with family, with strangers, in stressful situations, when relaxed.

On the other axis, list five personality traits that you think describe you: e.g., patient, confident, curious, direct, warm.

Now honestly rate yourself in each context (1–10) for each trait.

Reflection prompt: Where are you most consistent? Where do you vary most? What situations bring out the version of yourself you most want to be? What situations bring out the version you least recognize?

Exercise 1.8 — What You Wish You'd Known (Level 1 | 15 minutes)

The opening of this chapter referenced a workshop where people were asked what they wish they'd known about people before they were thirty.

Answer the question for yourself: What do you wish you'd understood about yourself or other people earlier in your life?

Write as specifically as you can — not "I wish I'd known about emotions" but "I wish I'd understood that my tendency to shut down in arguments was fear, not indifference — and that the people I was arguing with couldn't tell the difference."

Purpose: This exercise identifies the territory this book is most likely to be useful for, for you specifically.

Part C: Going Deeper

Exercise 1.9 — Interview a Trusted Person (Level 2 | 30 minutes)

Ask someone who knows you well — a close friend, partner, sibling, or colleague — the following questions. Listen without defending or explaining.

1. "How would you describe me to someone who didn't know me?"
2. "When do you think I'm at my best?"
3. "Is there a pattern you notice in how I handle difficult situations?"
4. "What do you think I'm most blind to about myself?"

After the conversation: Write about the gap between how they see you and how you see yourself. Where did their perception surprise you?

Exercise 1.10 — The Misconceptions Challenge (Level 2 | 20 minutes)

The chapter identified four common misconceptions about psychology: 1. Psychology is mostly common sense 2. Understanding your problems psychologically makes them go away 3. Psychology is soft science 4. Psychological labels are stigmatizing

Write about your prior relationship with each of these misconceptions. Which did you believe? Which do you still partly believe? Why?

Exercise 1.11 — Setting Your Reading Intentions (Level 1 | 10 minutes)

Before you go further in this book, set three intentions:

1. What I most want to understand better (about myself or others):

2. The area I am most likely to resist or avoid:

3. One specific change I would like to see in my life by the time I finish this book:

Return to these intentions at the end of the book (Chapter 40) and reflect on what has changed.

Exercise 1.12 — The Situation Audit (Level 3 | 30 minutes)

Think about the three situations in your life where you feel least like yourself — where your behavior diverges most from your values or intentions.

For each situation: 1. Describe the situation and your behavior in it 2. What features of the situation tend to pull that behavior out of you? 3. What would it look like to respond differently — and what would need to be different in the situation, or in your preparation for it?

Purpose: This exercise applies the person-situation framework to your own life, identifying the situational triggers that matter most.

Exercise 1.13 — Noticing Confabulation (Level 2 | Ongoing)

This week, practice catching yourself in the act of confabulation — generating reasons for your behavior that may not be the actual reasons.

When you notice yourself explaining why you did something, pause and ask: - Is this explanation actually accurate, or is it the most socially acceptable story? - What would I say if I had to be completely honest with no audience? - Is there a simpler explanation I'm avoiding?

Keep brief notes on two or three instances.

Exercise 1.14 — A Letter to Your Future Self (Level 3 | 20 minutes)

Write a brief letter to yourself, to be read when you finish this book.

Include: - What you currently believe about yourself that you suspect this book will challenge - What you hope to understand better - What you commit to — however tentatively — in how you'll engage with the material - What you're most curious about

Seal or file the letter and don't read it until Chapter 40.

Exercise 1.15 — Research in Plain English (Level 2 | 20 minutes)

Find one psychology study mentioned in this chapter (e.g., Wilson and Nisbett's confabulation research, Kahneman and Tversky's work on decision-making, Mischel's personality research).

Look it up — the original or a reliable summary. Then answer: 1. What was the study's actual methodology? 2. What did it actually show? 3. What does the media version of this finding say? 4. Where is the gap between the finding and its popular interpretation?

Purpose: Developing the habit of going back to primary sources — even briefly — is one of the most valuable skills for a psychologically literate person.