Mental models
As the site is down: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20190725120100&#x2F;https:&#x2F;&#x2F;nesslabs.com&#x2F;mental-models" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20190725120100&#x2F;https:&#x2F;&#x2F;nesslabs.c...</a><p>Here a &quot;quick&quot; summary:<p><pre><code>    Anchoring: a cognitive bias where an individual relies too heavily on an
    initial piece of information—the “anchor”—when making decisions.

    Backward chaining: working backward from your goal.

    Classical conditioning: you’ve probably heard about Pavlov’s dog. Classical
    conditioning is a learning method in which a biologically potent stimulus—such
    as food—is paired with a previously neutral stimulus—let’s say a bell. The
    neutral stimulus comes to create a response (salivation) that is usually
    similar to the one created by the potent stimulus (in this case, food).

    Commitment and consistency bias: the desire to be and appear consistent with
    what we have already done.

    Common knowledge: knowledge that is known by everyone or nearly everyone,
    usually with reference to a particular community. Common knowledge doesn’t
    necessarily mean truth, but most people will accept it as valid.

    Comparative advantage: the ability to carry out a particular economic
    activity—such as making a specific product—more efficiently than another
    activity.

    Diversification: the process of allocating your resources in a way that reduces
    the exposure to any one particular risk.

    Economies of scale: the cost advantages that businesses obtain due to their
    scale of operation. The larger the scale, the smaller the cost per unit.

    Efficient-market hypothesis: a theory that states that prices fully reflect all
    available information. The hypothesis implies that is should be impossible to
    consistently beat the market, since market prices should only react to new
    information.

    Game theory: an umbrella term for the science of logical decision making in
    humans, animals, and computers.

    Hyperbolic discounting: a model which states that, given two similar rewards,
    people show a preference for one that arrives sooner rather than later.

    Illusion of control: the tendency for people to overestimate their ability to
    control events.

    Incentive: something that motivates or encourages someone to do something.

    Inversion principle: the process of looking at a problem backward. For example,
    instead of brainstorming forward ideas, imagine everything that could make your
    project go terribly wrong.

    Loss aversion: people’s tendency to prefer avoiding losses to acquiring
    equivalent gains. We are basically more upset about losing $10 than we are
    happy about finding $10.

    Margin of safety: in a business, how much sales level can fall before a company
    reaches its break-even point.

    Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted
    as a pyramid, in which needs lower down in the hierarchy must be satisfied
    before people can attend to needs higher up. In order, the needs are
    physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging, esteem, and
    self-actualization.

    Mechanical advantage: also called the law of the lever, it’s a measure of how
    much your strength is amplified by using a tool or mechanical device.

    Mere-exposure effect: a psychological phenomenon by which people tend to
    develop a preference for things merely because they are familiar with them.

    Norm of reciprocity: the expectation that we repay in kind what another has
    done for us.

    Normal distribution: a theory which states that averages of samples of
    observations of random variables become normally distributed when the number of
    observations is sufficiently large.

    Operant conditioning: a learning process where the strength of a behaviour is
    modified by reinforcement or punishment.

    Redundancy: the duplication of critical components of a system with the
    intention of increasing its reliability. For example, a backup or a fail-safe.

    Scarcity: the limited availability of a commodity, which may be in demand in
    the market. Basically, when something is in short supply.

    Signalling theory: the science of determining whether people with conflicting
    interests should be expected to provide honest signals rather than cheating.

    Status quo bias: a preference for the current state of affairs, where the
    current baseline is taken as a reference point, and any change from that
    baseline is perceived as a loss.

    Supply and demand: an economic model which postulates that, in a competitive
    market, the unit price for a particular good or service will vary until it
    settles at a point where the quantity demanded will equal the quantity
    supplied, resulting in an equilibrium for price and quantity transacted.

    Surfing: the business principle of “riding the wave” of a new technology,
    product, or trend.

    Survivorship bias: the logical error of concentrating on the people that made
    it past some selection process and overlooking those that did not, typically
    because of their lack of visibility. Happens a lot in entrepreneurship.

    Tribalism: a way of thinking in which people are loyal to their social group
    above all else.</code></pre>