Guides
How to read self-test results, how symptoms differ, and how to put a screening to use — the explanations you need after the test.
Mental health
- Bipolar I vs. Bipolar II — Mania, Hypomania and What a Self-Check Can Tell YouBipolar I means at least one manic episode; bipolar II means hypomanic episodes plus major depressive episodes. Learn the criteria that separate them (duration, functioning, hospitalization, psychotic symptoms), why bipolar II is often mistaken for depression, what a self-check can and cannot tell you, and how to prepare for an appointment.6 min read ·
- Depression Test Score Chart: PHQ-9 Score Ranges ExplainedDepression test score chart for the PHQ-9 (0-27): what 0-4, 5-9, 10-14, 15-19 and 20+ mean, why item 9 is read separately, and when to see a doctor.6 min read ·
- How Adult ADHD Is Diagnosed — From Self-Screening to a Psychiatric EvaluationA diagnosis of adult ADHD is made through an interview with a psychiatrist. This guide covers how symptoms look in adults, how to read a self-screening result, what the assessment actually involves, why depression, anxiety and sleep loss are so easily mistaken for it, and what to bring to your appointment.6 min read ·
- Anxiety Disorder vs. Panic Disorder — Symptoms, GAD-7 Scores and Treatment PathsGeneralized anxiety is worry about many things that lasts six months or more; panic disorder is repeated attacks that peak within minutes plus fear of the next one. Learn how they differ, their physical symptoms, the GAD-7 score bands, when panic needs a medical check first, and the main treatment paths.5 min read ·
- Burnout vs. Depression — The Three Signs of Burnout and When It Is Something MoreBurnout is exhaustion rooted in work that tends to lift when you step away; depression pulls mood and interest down across all of life. Learn the three faces of burnout, where it overlaps with depression and where it differs, how to read a Copenhagen Burnout Inventory score, recovery steps, and the signs that it is time to see a doctor.6 min read ·
Cognition
- Stroop Effect: Definition, Example and Score InterpretationStroop effect: why the word RED in blue ink slows you down. Definition, the 1935 experiment, congruent vs. incongruent trials and what your score means.6 min read ·
- IQ Percentile Chart: What Do IQ 115 and 130 Mean?Use the IQ percentile table for a mean-100, SD-15 scale: 115 is about the top 16%, and 130 the top 2%. Read the bell curve, score ranges and limits of online IQ tests.6 min read ·
- What Is Working Memory, and Does N-Back Training Actually Work?Working memory is the ability to hold information briefly and work with it. This guide covers the Baddeley model, capacity limits, how digit span, n-back, and spatial span differ, what meta-analyses say about whether n-back training raises intelligence, and how to track your own trend.5 min read ·
Personality
- Big 5 Personality Traits: The OCEAN Model ExplainedBig 5 personality traits: what openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism look like in daily life, and how to read scores.5 min read ·
- The Four Attachment Styles and How They Shape Your RelationshipsHow secure, anxious, avoidant, and fearful-avoidant styles are defined on the anxiety and avoidance dimensions, where they come from, how each shows up in dating and conflict, whether your style can change, and what you can do about it now.5 min read ·
How-to
- Teaching Mind-Wandering with the SART: A 45-Minute Class PlanA class plan where everyone takes the same 4-minute test, the anonymous distribution goes on screen, and the discussion follows. Key studies summarized for teaching: Robertson's SART (1997), Smallwood & Schooler's theory of mind-wandering (2006), Cheyne's pre-error speeding (2009), and Killingsworth & Gilbert's 46.9% (2010).8 min read ·
- A Cognitive Psychology Lab in 30 Minutes: Replicating Classic Experiments with Reaction Time, Stroop, Digit Span, Mental Rotation, Trail Making, Tower Planning, and N-backA lab plan: pick two or three tasks per session, run them with the whole class, and confirm the classic effects in the anonymous distribution. Stroop (1935) and MacLeod (1991); Miller's 7±2 (1956) and Cowan's 4 (2001); Shepard & Metzler's angle–reaction-time line (1971); Reitan (1958) and Tombaugh's (2004) Trail Making norms; Shallice's Tower of London (1982); and the N-back debate from Kirchner (1958) to Jaeggi (2008) and Redick & Lindsey (2013).11 min read ·
- Teaching Recognition Memory with a Word Memory Test: A 45-Minute Class PlanA class plan where everyone takes the same five-minute word memory test, the anonymous distribution goes on screen, and hits and false alarms open up recognition memory and signal detection. Classroom-ready numbers from Shepard (1967), Standing's 10,000 pictures (1973), Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve, and Roediger & Karpicke's testing effect (2006).8 min read ·
- Teaching the Big Five in Class: Traits, Heritability, and the Barnum Effect in One SessionA session where the whole class takes the Big Five, looks at the anonymous distribution, and learns first-hand that personality is a set of continuous dimensions, not types. Teaching-ready summaries of Soto & John's BFI-2 (2017), Vukasović & Bratko's ~40% heritability (2015), Roberts et al.'s predictive power (2007), and Forer's Barnum experiment (1949).8 min read ·
- Using the RIASEC Interest Test in Class and Career Guidance: Teaching Holland's Hexagon with DataA session that puts the whole class's interest-type distribution on screen and teaches Holland's six types and the hexagon. Teaching-ready summaries of Nauta's 50-year review (2010), Nye et al.'s 'interests predict performance' (2012), and Su et al.'s half-million-person meta-analysis of sex differences (d = 0.93, 2009).8 min read ·
- Teaching with the PHQ-9 and GAD-7: Screening, Sensitivity and Specificity, and the Base-Rate FallacyA session that uses two 2-minute scales to teach, with numbers, that screening is not diagnosis. Kroenke et al.'s PHQ-9 cut-off of 10 (88% sensitivity and specificity, 2001), Spitzer et al.'s GAD-7 (89%/82%, 2006), Levis et al.'s large meta-analysis (2019), a 1,000-student calculation that yields a 45% positive predictive value, and the safeguards a classroom needs.9 min read ·
- How to Bring Your Self-Test Results to a Psychiatrist: A First-Visit GuideHow psychiatrists actually use self-report screeners, what to bring to a first visit, how to describe symptoms by onset, duration, and functional impact, what a first psychiatric appointment in Korea looks like, and how to track your progress with repeat tests afterward.5 min read ·
These checks are self-screening, not a medical diagnosis. Diagnosis requires a clinician.