Two Guys on Your Head

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October 9, 2026

Annoyance Part I: Predictability and Risk

By: Rebecca McInroy

Why is it that some things really annoy us while others we couldn’t care less about? It turns out it has a lot to do with predictability and attention: we get annoyed when something we didn’t choose or anticipate intrudes on our attention, or when we are stuck paying attention to something we would rather tune out.

In part one of this two-part Two Guys on Your Head series, Dr. Art Markman, Dr. Bob Duke, and Rebecca McInroy explore the psychology of annoyance.