Why Your Brain Keeps Playing the Same Song: Uncovering the Patterns You Can’t Hear (Yet)

How do tertiary and recursive behavior patterns—along with their relationship to primary, secondary, and ancillary patterns—shape the ways unresolved psychological data and suppressed emotional interactions are re-enacted, maintained, or transformed during trauma recovery?

It’s a bit like country song, Kelsie Ballerini singing about “Patterns” in a honky-tonk—except instead of love gone wrong, it’s your unconscious mind running the same old verses and choruses of behavior on repeat.

You don’t have to know a lick about country music to get the joke:

• We’ve all got those mental “greatest hits” we keep spinning, even when the lyrics are outdated and the melody’s out of tune.

The punchline? Just like a catchy song you didn’t mean to memorize, your deepest unconscious patterns shape your behavior whether you’re aware of them or not—boots, banjo, and all.

In trauma-informed assessment, human reactions and responses are rarely the product of a single layer of influence. Primary patterns often emerge as immediate, neurobiologically-driven survival responses (e.g., hypervigilance, dissociation). Secondary patterns form as ongoing coping strategies—some adaptive, others maladaptive—such as substance use, emotional numbing, or recreating familiar but harmful relational dynamics.

Ancillary patterns add further complexity by introducing external or secondary influences—like social stigma, cultural norms, or economic hardship—that intensify or maintain the primary, secondary, and tertiary effects.

Sub-clusters

Tertiary patterns: reflect the more deeply ingrained, chronic effects of unresolved trauma, including entrenched negative core beliefs, complex dissociation, and chronic health symptoms.

Recursive patterns: by contrast, are cyclical re-enactments—automatic “loops” in thought, behavior, or relational engagement—that unconsciously recreate elements of the original trauma, such as repeatedly entering relationships with emotionally unavailable partners or engaging in rumination that reinforces self-blame.

When reintegrating unresolved psychological data, effective trauma-informed interventions must not only identify these patterns individually but also address how they interlock. Research on cognitive load and decision-making (e.g., Miller, 1956; Cowan, 2001; Hick’s Law via The Decision Lab) shows that information and choice are more digestible when clustered into small, meaningful sets—often triads—helping both clinicians and clients process “heady” material without overload.

By framing complex behavioral interactions into manageable groupings, practitioners can foster meta-cognitive awareness, facilitate emotional integration, and disrupt maladaptive feedback loops, creating space for new, adaptive responses to emerge.

Within the context of unresolved psychological data, trauma-informed interventions, and human behaviors, what is the role of tertiary, and recursive patterns when assessing the core causal factors guiding our human reactions and response—including their relationship to ancillary, primary, and secondary patterns.

In assessing the core causal factors influencing human reactions and responses within the context of unresolved psychological trauma and trauma-informed interventions, it's helpful to consider various layers and patterns of influence, including primary, secondary, tertiary, and recursive patterns. 

Primary Patterns: These represent the initial, often unconscious, responses to trauma. They manifest as immediate behavioral changes like avoidance, hypervigilance, dissociation, or emotional dysregulation. They also include the initial neurobiological and cognitive changes that occur in the brain and body in the immediate aftermath of a traumatic event.

Secondary Patterns: These involve the development of coping mechanisms, both adaptive and maladaptive, that arise as individuals attempt to manage the long-term effects of primary trauma. Examples include substance misuse, self-harm, or seeking out toxic relationships that mirror past traumas. The influence of social context, developmental factors, and access to resources can also shape the development of secondary patterns.

In the context of trauma-informed care

Trauma-informed interventions aim to address all these layers by recognizing the widespread impact of trauma and understanding potential paths for recovery, recognizing the signs and symptoms of trauma, and integrating knowledge about trauma into all policies, procedures, and practices.

This involves recognizing the connections between past trauma and present behaviors, creating safe and supportive environments, and equipping individuals with the tools and resources to process and heal from the impact of trauma. By considering the interplay of primary, secondary, tertiary, and recursive patterns, trauma-informed care can offer a more comprehensive and effective approach to healing and recovery. 

Ancillary Patterns: In the context of human behavior, ancillary patterns refer to secondary or supplementary patterns of behavior that are linked to, or support, a primary or main behavioral pattern. While not the core focus of the action, these ancillary patterns can significantly influence, facilitate, or even sometimes disrupt, the main behavior. 

Think of it this way: if a main behavior is like the central storyline of a play, ancillary patterns are the supporting roles and subplots that contribute to the overall narrative. 

Sub-clusters:

Tertiary Patterns: These relate to more deeply ingrained, often chronic, and complex responses to unresolved trauma. This level can encompass more pervasive dissociative disorders, chroni health issues, low self-esteem, or negative core beliefs. Tertiary patterns may require more intensive and specialized interventions to address the pervasive nature of the trauma's impact.

Recursive Patterns: These involve the repetitive, often unconscious, re-enactment of past conditioned or  traumatic experiences in new situations, even when these situations are not objectively dangerous.

Example: Autodedactive Behaviors, Default Neural Responses, Rumination, Or Circular Feedback Loops, for instance—serving as salient illustrations. (also illuminating instances like the salience bias, or other attentional biases)

This can involve reliving the trauma through flashbacks and nightmares, or it can manifest in interpersonal relationships, such as repeatedly being drawn to emotionally unavailable partners or recreating dysfunctional relationship dynamics. This compulsion to repeat, often driven by an unconscious desire for mastery or resolution, can maintain the cycle of suffering and hinder healing if left unaddressed. 

Relationship to ancillary patterns

Ancillary patterns can be understood as secondary adversities, social, and cultural factors that further compound the impact of trauma. These could be issues like family separations, financial hardship, social stigma, or ongoing medical treatment. These factors can significantly influence how individuals cope with the primary, secondary, and tertiary impacts of trauma, and understanding them is crucial for providing holistic, trauma-informed care. 

In client-facing communications, complex ideas are often grouped into small, repeatable sets—frequently triads—to reduce cognitive load and make takeaways easier to grasp. This isn’t just stylistic; it aligns with research on working-memory limits and cognitive load. Classic and contemporary findings suggest people can actively juggle only a handful of “chunks” at once (Miller’s “7±2” sparked the idea; later work argues the true capacity is closer to ~4), so compact clusters help audiences encode, compare, and remember information.

In choice psychology and UX, keeping options few—and well-structured—reduces decision time and friction. Hick’s Law shows that decision time grows with the number of choices; fewer, clearer options enable faster decisions. In practice, that’s why sites often present 3 pricing tiers (“Basic, Pro, Premium”) or 3 primary navigation choices—just enough contrast without overload.

Psychological and Brain Sciences (Purdue University ICS)(The Decision Lab)

When options proliferate, motivation and follow-through can drop—a phenomenon known as choice overload. The famous jam study by Iyengar & Lepper found that a larger array attracted more browsers but led to dramatically fewer purchases than a smaller array, illustrating how abundance can paralyze action. Designers and marketers use small, curated sets to keep attention, ease comparisons, and raise conversion.

Why “three” so often? Triads sit in a sweet spot: small enough to stay within working-memory constraints and large enough to allow meaningful comparison (anchor, contrast, and “best fit”). They also map neatly onto common cognitive patterns (e.g., “good-better-best”), enabling chunking and schema formation—core ideas in cognitive load theory. Still, “three” isn’t magic in a literal sense; the optimal number depends on task complexity, audience expertise, and stakes. The underlying principle is to minimize unnecessary load while preserving useful contrast. (mrbartonmaths.com)

Two important nuances:

Fewer is usually faster (Hick’s Law), but not always better—sometimes an extra option adds needed contrast or a clearer “middle ground.”

Preference and risk perception also shape choices. Kahneman & Tversky’s Prospect Theory shows that people evaluate gains and losses asymmetrically, which means how you frame a small set of options can matter as much as how many options you show.

Concrete examples you can use

Pricing pages: Offer 3 tiers with one “recommended” plan highlighted. This harnesses Hick’s Law (faster selection) and reduces overload while still allowing a meaningful comparison.

The Decision Lab

Onboarding flows: Present 3 clear starter paths (e.g., “Create,” “Browse,” “Import”) instead of a sprawling menu; users decide faster and feel less stuck. Psychological and Brain Sciences

Feature education: Summarize a complex product into 3 core benefits to support chunking and recall during sales calls or public presentations. labs.la.utexas.edu

Sources (direct website references)

The Decision Lab: overviews on Hick’s Law and choice overload (with references to primary research).

Hick, W. E. (1952). Original paper on choice reaction time (Hick’s Law).

Psychological and Brain Sciences Proctor & Schneider (2018). Review of Hick’s Law and its implications.

Purdue University ICS Iyengar & Lepper (2000). “When choice is demotivating…” (jam study).

Miller (1956). “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two.”

labs.la.utexas.edu

Cowan (2001; 2010). Working-memory capacity closer to ~4 chunks. PubMed

Sweller (1988). Cognitive Load Theory. ScienceDirect

 Kahnman & Tversky (1979). Prospect Theory (risk framing affects choice). Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Bottom line: Grouping options and messages into very small sets—often three—works because it respects cognitive limits (working memory, cognitive load), mitigates overload, and speeds decisions (Hick’s Law). The exact “right” number is contextual, but the evidence consistently supports fewer, clearer, and well-framed choices for public-facing communication.

Here are some key aspects to understand about ancillary patterns:

Supportive or Secondary: They aren't the primary goal or action, but rather actions or characteristics that accompany it.

Influence and Interdependence: Ancillary patterns can influence how the main behavior is carried out, its effectiveness, and even its overall outcome.

Examples:

In the context of healthy eating habits (main behavior), an ancillary pattern might be meticulous meal planning or regular exercise that supports the weight management goal.

For a business, generating income from baggage fees (ancillary revenue) is a supplementary stream that supports the primary service of air travel.

In a clinical trial, collecting data on individual immune responses (ancillary study) helps to understand the main study's findings on vaccine effectiveness. 

Understanding ancillary patterns can be valuable in various fields like psychology, social sciences, and even business, as they can provide deeper insights into complex behaviors and their underlying emergent factors (causal).

Ancillary patterns in human behavior

Ancillary patterns in human behavior refer to recurrent or consistent ways individuals or groups act, often as a result of underlying thoughts, emotions, beliefs, experiences, and various internal and external influences. They are not always the primary or most obvious behaviors but are often linked to or accompany other actions, providing insights into the motivations and mechanisms behind our actions. These patterns can be simple or complex, conscious or unconscious, and can manifest in various aspects of life, including relationships, work, health, and personal habits. 

For example, a pattern of overeating might be an ancillary pattern stemming from underlying stress or emotional discomfort, according to Dr. Alice Boyes. Similarly, someone who consistently engages in non-productive procrastination may exhibit ancillary patterns like difficulty with time management or overanalyzing tasks. Understanding these patterns can help identify the root causes of behaviors and develop effective strategies for change. 

Layers or domains related to understanding human behavior patterns

While there's no universally agreed-upon list of "ten layers" or domains specifically assigned to ancillary patterns, the study of human behavior, including these patterns, draws upon various interconnected layers or domains. These can be broadly categorized as follows:

Biological/Physiological: This domain considers how our physical body, including genetics, brain chemistry, nervous system, and hormonal influences, impacts our behavior. For example, circadian rhythms influence daily activity patterns, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This also includes aspects like age, health, and illness.

Cognitive: This layer focuses on mental processes like perception, cognition, memory, intelligence, and decision-making. Understanding how individuals process information helps in comprehending how their cognitive biases and expectations might contribute to certain behavior patterns.

Developmental: This domain examines how behavior patterns change across the lifespan, from infancy through aging, influenced by biological maturation, environmental factors, and individual experiences. Attachment styles formed in early childhood can influence future social and emotional behavior patterns.

Social and Personality: This layer considers the impact of social interactions, relationships, and individual personality traits on behavior. This includes exploring how factors like culture, gender, and social norms influence actions and choices.

Emotional: This domain explores how emotions and emotional regulation influence behavior. Understanding how individuals experience and express emotions is key to understanding and potentially modifying behavior patterns driven by feelings like fear, anger, or joy.

Environmental/Contextual: This aspect considers how the surroundings and context, such as physical environment, community factors, and public policy, can shape and influence behavior.

Cultural: This domain recognizes the significant role of cultural norms, values, and practices in shaping individuals' behavior patterns.

Organizational: This focuses on behavior within workplace and institutional settings, including leadership styles, group dynamics, and organizational culture.

Spiritual: This layer explores the impact of beliefs and practices related to spirituality or religion on behavior.

Technological/Digital: In the modern era, the influence of technology, social media, and digital interactions on communication, learning, and social relationships has emerged as a crucial area of study. 

These layers are not independent but are interconnected and constantly interact to shape the unique and complex tapestry of human behavior and its ancillary patterns. A holistic understanding of human behavior requires considering the interplay of these various influences.