{"id":416,"date":"2026-05-15T14:10:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T18:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/?p=416"},"modified":"2026-05-15T14:10:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T18:10:58","slug":"dont-overthink-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2026\/05\/15\/dont-overthink-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Overthink It!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A news story found here<\/a> describes \u201cthe twisties,\u201d a condition in which gymnasts–including U.S. Olympian Simone Biles–who have overlearned routines to the point that they become automatic begin to think too much about how they perform these routines and as a result these thoughts interfere with the automatic performance. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, this condition forced Biles to drop out of competition. This story can also be used as an example related to motor learning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A news story found here describes \u201cthe twisties,\u201d a condition in which gymnasts–including U.S. Olympian Simone Biles–who have overlearned routines to the point that they become automatic begin to think too much about how they perform these routines and as … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tca"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcjttF-6I","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":383,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2026\/04\/23\/critical-thinking-is-not-automatic-even-among-critical-thinkers\/","url_meta":{"origin":416,"position":0},"title":"Critical Thinking is Not Automatic, Even among Critical Thinkers","author":"dbernstein","date":"April 23, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A news story in the Daily Mail found here describes a tendency among academics to not think critically about even the most ridiculous material if that material coincides with their own agendas, points of view or expectations.","rel":"","context":"In "Research Methods & Statistics"","block_context":{"text":"Research Methods & Statistics","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/rmstats\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":197,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2021\/07\/20\/cognitive-processes-in-medical-diagnoses\/","url_meta":{"origin":416,"position":1},"title":"Cognitive Processes in Medical Diagnoses","author":"dbernstein","date":"July 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The following story exemplifies the overall value of thinking and provides a nice introduction to its role in problem solving, and decision making: Dr. Joyce Wallace, a New York City physician, was having trouble figuring out what was the matter with a 43-year-old patient, \"Laura McBride.\" Laura reported pain in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Thinking and Cognitive Abilities"","block_context":{"text":"Thinking and Cognitive Abilities","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/tca\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":439,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2026\/06\/08\/a-case-of-arrested-physical-development\/","url_meta":{"origin":416,"position":2},"title":"A Case of Arrested Physical Development","author":"dbernstein","date":"June 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"This link presents the story of a 22 year-old woman whose childhood treatment of brain cancer resulted in stunted growth, leaving her looking like an 8 year-old child. The story includes a description of the social consequences of this mismatch between appearance and actual age.","rel":"","context":"In "Development"","block_context":{"text":"Development","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/development\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":441,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2026\/06\/08\/441\/","url_meta":{"origin":416,"position":3},"title":"A Case of Misdiagnosis","author":"dbernstein","date":"June 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A news story found here recounts the case of a homeless man who was falsely identified as a criminal with a different name. Because he refused to admit being that man, he was committed to a mental institution where he was medicated for two years before the error was corrected.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Psychological Disorders"","block_context":{"text":"Psychological Disorders","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/disorders\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":444,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2026\/06\/08\/update-on-a-famous-example-of-a-not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity-case\/","url_meta":{"origin":416,"position":4},"title":"Update on a Famous Example of a Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity Case","author":"dbernstein","date":"June 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A 2022 news story found here updates the status of John Hinckley, Jr., the man who shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981, was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and was ultimately released from a mental institution. A longer, and more detailed update appears here.","rel":"","context":"In "Psychological Disorders"","block_context":{"text":"Psychological Disorders","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/disorders\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":272,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2022\/10\/03\/272\/","url_meta":{"origin":416,"position":5},"title":"Cultural Influences on Defining Psychological Disorders","author":"dbernstein","date":"October 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"A news article found here describes and illustrates an annual religious ritual in Thailand that involves people choosing to have their cheeks pierced by objects large and small. Presenting this story in class should stimulate a lively discussion about how this relates to the body piercings that have become so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Psychological Disorders"","block_context":{"text":"Psychological Disorders","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/disorders\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":417,"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416\/revisions\/417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}