The Peak - End Rule

THE PEAK - END RULE, from Psychology Today, July 2017

“Memory is a tricky thing; it does not record events exactly as they unfold. Instead, people engage in an array of energy-sparing mental shortcuts. Daniel Kahneman finds that people time-sample their experiences and encode an event according to how they feel at it's peak and at its end. The so-called peak-end rule governs and tilts it toward emotionally intense events. How happy we are with our lives is a judgment we make based not on actual experiences but on time-sampled remembered experience.”

I would like to add, this is critical in understanding your triggers and coping mechanism. Experiences as very young children are recorded similarly. The reaction is recorded on the old brain and the event is forgotten. Cognitive ability to understand adult behaviors is not yet available to young children. This ability develops as we grow. This is why you may overreact or realize your reaction is much bigger than the situation demands. That is your old brain driving you. Stay conscious of these reactions because these are your triggers. Tell yourself “that was about then and not now.”