The Seventh Kingdom: Is Technology Addiction Real Jan. 2015 | Page 44

PROF. PAUL MACLEAN
The triune brain model is a theory by Paul MacLean that states everyone has three brains.
These brains are dissected into three evolutionary parts:
The “old brain” is responsible for natural instincts of survival followed by the “mid brain” which
encourages motivation. This is also the emotional brain which allows humans to empathise.
The final brain is named the “New brain” which is considered to be the intellectual brain and the
consciousness of humans. This part allows humans to think holistically about a design.
When the mid brain is the first in the sequence of thinking when analysing a design, it allows us
to connect on an emotional level i.e. believing a Nintendo Wii will make someone fitter than a
membership at a gym would because they emotionally connect to the fun element. The new
brain can be tricked by placebo effects for instance, the belief a product is better because it is
more expensive or larger.
“Placebo design” can be used to make a design appear better without having an actual effect
on the user. (MacLean, 1990, p37)

THEORY
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