42 Psychological Tricks That Will Make You Look Like You Can Read Minds

If you ask someone a question and they give you a short answer, don't respond and keep eye contact. The silence will typically cause them to ramble and by the end you'll probably know way more than you intended to.

This isn't necessarily a trick, but the most useful thing I learned in my psych courses is to ask, "What?" and not "Why?" Example: "What makes you think that?" instead of "Why do you think that?" It's much more friendly and shows genuine curiosity...and easier to break down if it's incorrect. Good family holiday tactic.

I don't know if this is a Psychology trick, but someone I knew used to work in a research lab. The research team (all the post-docs, grad students, undergrads) all decided to play a trick on the PI (head of the lab) where they would gradually stand closer and closer to him when they spoke, so they were standing about a foot closer than "normal."

For weeks they stood just inside the range of acceptable personal space, and then... all at once, they went back to standing normally.

The PI unconsciously moved closer. They'd messed with his perception of personal space and he then felt uncomfortable with the "normal" distance.

My favourite psych trick is to hand a random object to people for no reason while having a conversation with them. Once they're really into the conversation, hand them something like everything is completely normal, and chances are, they'll take it. They'll realise at the end of the conversation and be a little bit confused.

Cheaters tend to think everyone cheats, liars think that everyone lies.

I read The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini after Tom Scott recommended it in an old video. There's this one part which really stuck with me called the Contrast Principle. It basically says the your perception of something can be altered if you compare it to something just preceded it.

Say for example you're going to buy a new suit and a sweater. The suit is £200 and the sweater is £60. Trained salesmen would show the suit first because the sweater will seem less expensive than it really is even though nothing changed.

There were other great examples in the book like the Rule of Reciprocation.

Here's one that works every time (from Influence by Robert Cialdini): If you really want to pay the bill at the end of a meal/drinks, but your friend isn't the type to let you, just make up a reason why you should pay for it (it doesn't even have to be a good reason). People are much more likely to do what you want if you give them a reason.

For example, say, "You had longer to drive." or "You have had a rough week." or "You can get the next one." or even "Because I really want to." Even if the reason isn't true, and a lot of times it isn't, you will be able to pay for the meal/drinks every time.

Life becomes more meaningful when you realise you never get the same moment twice.

If you want someone to tell the truth get them to laugh before questioning.

If someone interrupts you while you are talking carry on talking they're gonna feel awkward and shut up.

You appear more attractive to others when you make them laugh or smile.

My favorite psychological trick:

*Paraphrase people and repeat back to them what they just said.*

One of the most positive ways to influence others is to show them that you really understand how they feel, that you have real empathy for them. One of the most effective ways to do this is by paraphrasing what they say and repeating it back.

When therapists used reflective listening, people were likely to disclose more emotion and have a much better therapeutic relationship with the therapist. This easily transfers over to talking to your friends.

If you listen to what they say, and rephrase it as a question to confirm that you understood it, they are going to be more comfortable talking with you. They are also going to have a better friendship with you and be more likely to listen to what you have to say, because you showed that you care about them.

Trying to hold back your thoughts about someone make you miss them even more.

If you want to check if someones looking at you yawn then look back at them, if they yawn back they were looking at you.

There is a concept called conservation, that we develop as children. But before that point, there is a fun trick to do with toddlers:

Take 3 cups, two short and fat, one tall and skinny. Fill the two fat ones with the same amount of water, and show them to the child. They should say that they have the same amount.

Then, pour one of the fat ones into the skinny glass, and ask which has more water in it. If they have developed conservation, they should say they have the same.

But if they haven't, they will think the taller, skinner glass has more water, because it is taller. I used this on my cousin when he was about 4, and it worked on him.

I think the [McCollough-Effect] ist really interesting. You're most likely familiar with the classical visual perception tricks where you're asked to stare at a picture and afterward you see disturbed colors or afterimages. These things usually don't last for more than a minute, but the McCollough-Effect can persist for weeks or months!
The effect works like this: You are presented with alternating pictures of horizontal and vertical stripes of different colors, black and green and black and purple. After you look at this for a couple of minutes, you will find the white portion of vertical black and white stripes to be green! Time to look up some zebra pictures.

This might be more like a prank that uses psychology. Tell someone if they pretend to shake a saltshaker into their mouth, their brain will trick them into tasting salt.

When playing rock, paper, scissors against someone, pick rock. Our brains automatically perceive paper to be the weakest item of all three, so most people are reluctant to use it. So you'll likely either win or tie.

You are more likely to achieve your goals if you keep it to yourself and write about it.

If you want someones attention start the conversation off by saying "I am not supposed to be telling you this".