Taking on One of Psychology’s Sacred Cows

Predictive processing reframes stimulus–response as only part of the picture.

RICK GRIFFIN OCT 14, 2025

Welcome back to Science Shorts, where we break down the science behind the Neuro- Informed movement. It’s also my ongoing attempt to prove I’m not completely off my rocker for championing it!

The original plan was to make only the first month of Science Shorts available to everyone, saving the rest for paid subscribers. But since we’re diving deeper into just one groundbreaking piece of research, it felt right to keep the whole series open. This is foundational science, and I want as many brains as possible along for the ride.

Last month we explored the 30,000-foot view of the Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett and Dr. J. Benjamin Hutchinson article. In this post, we explore one of the article’s hypotheses: prediction, not reaction, shapes what you think and feel. This view rattles the cage of the classic stimulus–response theory.

To explain this key point from the article, let’s starts with your morning coffee. You reach for your cup of morning inspiration. Your hand doesn’t wait for the warmth to register. Your brain is already predicting the heat, calculating grip, and planning a quick sip before you even smell the roast. By the time you notice the hotness, your neurons have been rehearsing the move for milliseconds. That simple action shows how your brain is running a future-forecast before any sensation reaches conscious awareness.

That last sentence is pure gold. Go ahead and stash it in your mental treasure chest.

LFB and Dr. Hutch describe a brain that is like a cautious accountant with a crystal ball. It runs a nonstop internal model, built from every experience you’ve ever had, constantly forecasting what’s next. Perception, memory, and action aren’t separate steps. They’re the living, breathing output of that model.

This idea goes even deeper according to the article. Every moment of perception blends your brain’s internal prediction with the outside stimulus, never just the stimulus alone. One study the article referenced captures it perfectly. First you see a random mess of black-and-white blobs, like an ink spill on a napkin. Your eyes can’t make sense of it. Then someone shows you the original photo the blobs came from, like a picture of a dog. When you look back at the blotchy version, the dog practically leaps out at you. The blobs never changed. You changed. Once your brain knew what to expect, it filled in the gaps and let you see the hidden image. Scientists call these tricky pictures Mooney images, and they reveal how your internal model literally builds what you perceive. If you’ve never tried them, check them out. Search “Mooney images” on YouTube and watch your perception flip like pancakes.

This predictive view doesn’t stop at perception, it reshapes how we understand trauma. The trauma-informed approach grew out of compassion, asking “What happened to you?” and focusing on triggers and reactions. It treats the brain like a smoke detector that blares

when danger sets it off. Something happens, you react. Classic stimulus-response thinking.

Predictive Processing Theory flips that script. Your brain isn’t waiting for a stimulus to respond. It’s forecasting every second, shaping what you feel, see, and do before the world even shows up. From that view, trauma isn’t just a past event waiting to be triggered. It’s a pattern baked into the brain’s predictions about what’s likely to happen next.

That shift matters. Growth doesn’t happen by dodging triggers. It happens when the brain’s forecasts meet reality and come up a little wrong. Those “prediction errors,” as scientists call them, are gold. They spark learning and update the internal model. For therapists, teachers, leaders, or parents, the message is clear: co-create spaces where new predictions can form. Give people practice, feedback, and relationships that feel safe enough for the brain to risk a wrong guess. That’s where lasting change lives and why the Neuro-Informed movement matters.

So keep practicing those Circuit Shifts I sent out. Keep noticing your own prediction engines. Every surprise, every small wrong guess, is your brain upgrading its model. That is the essence of Neuro-Informed growth.

Next up in the series, the topic is Moments Are Connected. This is all about how each thought or feeling reflects the prediction that came just before it, not some isolated trigger. Stay tuned and keep those prediction engines humming.