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The Incentives Lab
HBT-COG-0652 · Dimension COG · Cognition

Swish Pattern

Rapidly replacing an unwanted internal image with a desired one to disrupt a habitual response.

Behavior·Mental Model·Grade B·draft· enriching…

Scientific Definition

Rapidly replacing an unwanted internal image with a desired one to disrupt a habitual response.

Plain-English Definition

Rapidly replacing an unwanted internal image with a desired one to disrupt a habitual response.

Feynman Explanation

It's not magic. It's just installing a faster default before the slow one fires.

Core Principle

Rapidly replacing an unwanted internal image with a desired one to disrupt a habitual response.

Mechanisms

Psychological

Pending editorial review.

Behavioral Economic

Rapidly replacing an unwanted internal image with a desired one to disrupt a habitual response.

Neurological

Pending editorial review.

Evolutionary

Pending editorial review.

Sociological

Pending editorial review.

Computational

Pending editorial review.

Systems

Performance psychology, public speaking, sales call recovery.

Inputs (Triggers)

Pending editorial review.

Outputs (Behaviors)

Pending editorial review.

Behavioral Signature

It's not magic. It's just installing a faster default before the slow one fires.

Examples

Everyday
  • Classic NLP submodality intervention for habit change.
Modern (Organizational)
  • Performance psychology, public speaking, sales call recovery.
Historical

Pending editorial review.

Famous Experiments

Pending editorial review.

Design Principles

  • Rehearse the swap until the new image fires first. Repetition is the whole pattern.

Measurement Approaches

Pending editorial review.

Evidence

Evidence Grade
B (A strongest → E speculative)
Replication
★★★☆☆
Intervention Confidence
3 / 5
Consensus
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Limitations
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Open Research Questions

Pending editorial review.

Primary References

Pending editorial review.

Signature Section

The Perverse Incentive Lens™

How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.

Exploitation
Performance psychology, public speaking, sales call recovery.
Amplifying Incentives
Performance psychology, public speaking, sales call recovery.
Org Failure Modes
Performance psychology, public speaking, sales call recovery.
Societal Failure Modes
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Ethical Considerations
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Redesign Strategies
Rehearse the swap until the new image fires first. Repetition is the whole pattern.
Diagnostic Questions
  • Rehearse the swap until the new image fires first. Repetition is the whole pattern.
Warning Signs

Pending editorial review.

Red Flags

Pending editorial review.

Intervention Playbook
Individual
Rehearse the swap until the new image fires first. Repetition is the whole pattern.
Team
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Organization
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Policy
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
AI Implications
Detection
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Measurement
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Mitigation
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Responsible Use
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).

Interactive Mini Network

Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.

HBT-COG-0652 · COG
Swish Pattern
SPANAnchoring (NLP)CACollapsing AnchorsCoCongruenceSRSix-Step ReframeRu10/10/10 RuleWL3-Way Life Optimizat…APAbilene ParadoxAbAbsent-MindednessAbAbstractionsADActon's Dictum

Knowledge Graph Neighbors

Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.

Version History

v1.1.0 · 2026-06-28Initial auto-seed from corpus.