Notebook & Site Glossary:

A B C D E F G H I L N O P R S T U

Clinical Psychology

Focuses on diagnosing and treating mental health disorders, emotional difficulties, and behavioral issues. Clinical psychologists work in settings like hospitals, clinics, and private practices, helping individuals improve their mental well-being.

Cognition

Cognition refers to the mental processes involved in acquiring, processing, storing, and using information. It encompasses a wide range of activities, including perception, memory, reasoning, problem-solving, decision-making, language, and creativity. Cognition is central to how we understand and interact with the world, and it is a key focus of study in psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, and related fields.

Cognitive Psychology

Studies mental processes like perception, memory, thought, problem-solving, and language. Cognitive psychologists investigate how people process information and how cognitive functions develop over time.

Consciousness

A complex and multifaceted psychological term that refers to the state of being aware of and able to think about oneself, one’s surroundings, and one’s experiences. It encompasses the subjective experience of thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and sensations, as well as the ability to reflect on and interpret these experiences. Consciousness is a central topic in psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and cognitive science, but it remains one of the most challenging phenomena to define and study.

Controlled Attention

Also known as executive attention or voluntary attention, refers to the deliberate and effortful allocation of cognitive resources to specific tasks, stimuli, or goals. Unlike automatic attention, which is involuntary and stimulus-driven, controlled attention requires conscious intention, focus, and mental effort. It is a key component of executive functioning and plays a critical role in complex cognitive tasks, decision-making, and goal-directed behavior.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

A systematic process used to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a decision, project, or policy by comparing its costs and benefits. The goal is to determine whether the benefits outweigh the costs and whether the decision is economically justified. CBA is widely used in economics, business, public policy, and personal decision-making to ensure resources are allocated efficiently and effectively.

Cue

In psychology, a cue is a stimulus or signal that triggers a specific response, memory, or behavior. Cues can be external (e.g., sights, sounds, smells) or internal (e.g., thoughts, emotions) and play a critical role in guiding attention, memory retrieval, learning, and decision-making. Cues are essential in various psychological processes, including conditioning, memory recall, and habit formation.

Key Features of Cues:

Triggering Function:
- Cues act as prompts that initiate or influence a response, thought, or behavior.

Context-Dependent:
- The effectiveness of a cue often depends on the context in which it is presented.

Associative Nature:
- Cues are often linked to specific memories, behaviors, or outcomes through learning and experience.

Variety of Forms:
- Cues can be sensory (e.g., visual, auditory, olfactory), emotional, or cognitive.

Index Of Tactical Notebook Articles In Order Of Suggested Reading:

This index is a revision of our now removed Legacy Member Handbook series. New articles are added over time and the index adjusted accordingly. Visist the “Updates” environment (linked in the main navigation menu) to get up to speed or see when new content is added or changes have been made to existing articles.

The Big Lie Of Family Court

Before you build a strategy to beat family court pathology, you need to clearly understand it, and that means delving beyond the symptoms and getting to the heart of the problem.

This article challenges the commonly stated ideal that family courts operate primarily in the best interests of the child. It argues that, in practice, the system often prioritizes conflict and financial interests over real family well-being, marginalizes non-custodial parents, and enables harmful behaviors such as false allegations and parental alienation. Drawing on psychological insights and firsthand advocacy experience, the piece exposes systemic biases, explains how entrenched incentives shape outcomes, and calls for accountability and reform to protect children and both parents from needless harm.

Utilizing Designed Response Rules To Outmaneuver Stress and Anxiety

Yes, it actually works.

This comprehensive article introduces response rules — intentional strategies drawn from behavioral economics and psychology to help people regain control of their reactions in high-stress environments, especially within family court and conflict situations. The piece explains how deliberately structured responses (like if-then rules) can shift automatic patterns, reduce emotional overwhelm, and improve decision-making under pressure. It also frames these rules as tools for building resilience and strategic advantage when facing adversity, transforming difficult experiences into opportunities for grounded action and personal growth.

Changing The Game In Your Favor With One Small Thing and One Big Thing.

Utilizing Focus Anchors and discovering your unique Income Signature.

A Little Wisdom From King Solomon: How To Use Tactical Screens To Get People To Reveal Themselves

This article draws on the biblical story of King Solomon’s famous judgment to explain how tactical screens — strategic choices or signals that prompt revealing responses — help uncover what others truly value, intend, or believe. It connects Solomon’s wisdom in discerning hidden truths with modern decision-making and game-theoretic insights, showing how thoughtfully constructed screens can expose private information and improve how we interpret people’s actions in real-world contexts.

Utilizing Positive Test Strategies To Expose Bias, Reverse False Beliefs, And Combat Parental Alienation

This article explores how predictable human tendencies — especially those rooted in cognitive bias and positive test strategies — shape the way we form and reinforce beliefs. It explains how selective recall and confirmation habits can distort perception, influence judgments, and inadvertently strengthen false narratives. The piece then outlines how understanding and tactically applying these psychological concepts can help uncover hidden bias, challenge entrenched assumptions, and support more effective strategies in confronting parental alienation and related social dynamics.

Understanding Bystander Effects And How To Neutralize Them

This article explains the bystander effect — a well-documented social psychological phenomenon where people are less likely to help or speak up when others are present — and shows how this pattern can contribute to collective inaction in situations like family court dysfunction, parental alienation, and social reform efforts. It breaks down key mechanisms such as diffusion of responsibility, social influence, and fear of judgment, and it offers practical insights for overcoming passivity, encouraging individual responsibility, and transforming bystander apathy into proactive engagement.