Author: Steve Cantwell
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We perceive people as taller if they have a prestigious job title.
We see people as taller if they have a prestigious job title. Is a first officer of an aeroplane always shorter than the captain? Of course not. Many first officers will become captains, and I assume most have finished growing upwards before they become pilots. But the prestige of the captain’s title lends him an…
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The first people to speak will influence you.
The first people to speak will influence you. Imagine once more that you are awaiting your turn to speak. This time it is not to give your general recommendation of the best course of action, but to give your firm judgement on something. It might be the price you think a product should be sold…
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The first person to speak has the most influence.
Imagine you are waiting to give your view on a subject. You are pretty sure of your conviction that “A” is the best course of action for the group. The first person to speak, perhaps the leader, surprises you by advocating “B”. The next person in line around the table also says “B”. And the…
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Group discussions lead to more extreme views.
You might think that a group discussion would temper people’s opinions as they hear different viewpoints and arguments from all sides. However, the opposite is very often true. Group discussions commonly lead to more extreme views. Most groups are groups for a reason. They have a common purpose or goal, and therefore often have views…
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“Free” is a powerful word.
As I have written before, we tend to equate quality with price: you get what you pay for. However, the idea of getting something for free can override any considerations of quality. Most transactions have an up-side and a down-side. The up-side of buying something is that you receive a product that you desired. The…
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Expensive wine does taste better.
When wine lovers drink wine they believe to be expensive, blood oxygen increases in the area of the brain concerned with feeling pleasure. This was shown in research by Plassman et al in 2008. The wine actually tastes better to them just because they think it is expensive and therefore believe it is good quality.…
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Just the thought of money makes us unsociable
Money makes us unsociable Just the thought of money makes us more insular, more unsociable, and makes us want to be more independent. Kathleen Vohs et al conducted various experiments to study the way people’s behaviour changes when they have money on their minds. One of my favourites had participants fill out a form in…
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You are hopeless at noticing change.
You are hopeless at noticing change In 1998 Simons and Levin performed an experiment to show just how bad people are at noticing change. A person with a map would approach someone, acting lost, and ask them how to get to somewhere. Whilst that person (an inadvertent participant in the experiment) tried to describe the…
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“I wish they would just get on with Brexit”: an example of the sunk cost fallacy?
In case you haven’t noticed, there is a little thing called Brexit being discussed a bit these days. I have heard several politicians claiming that people tell them they wish the politicians would just get on with it. It is suggested that now we have come this far down the path, we might as well…
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Every memory is a shabby reconstruction.
Every memory is a shabby reconstruction. Think back to an event in your past. A birthday, a night out, a chance meeting. Bring back that memory. It may seem to you that the memory comes to you whole, but it doesn’t. It is merely a flawed reconstruction. Every time we dredge up a memory we…