The Principles of Psychology is a monumental text in the history of psychology, written by American psychologist William James and published in 1890. James was an American philosopher and psychologist who trained to be a physician before going into psychology. Known as “The Father of Psychology”, James also authored Essays in Radical Empiricism, important in philosophy, and The Varieties of Religious Experience, which led to understanding the differences of religious experience that helped build theories of mind cure. That said, what can James tell us to make our Infographics better? Plenty. Here’s five things:

1 – USE THE STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Our minds flow linearly – but we think non-linearly. So while our stream of consciousness flows from one thing to the next – what those things are may not necessarily be linearly connected. Great infographics understand that idea and thus present clearly (and simply) a bunch of related ideas and facts that are in support of one key idea. While the information is non-linear, the conclusion is linearly presented – but the visual connection of the dots is made by the viewer in his mind. Here’s an exceptional example about visualizing the mortality and impact of viruses/bacteria in history…

5 Principles of Psychology You Can Use to Improve Your Infographics