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Viktorija Strelciunaite

42 Interesting And Fun Psychological Tricks To Try On Someone

Humans are pretty impressive when you stop and think about it. We’ve launched ourselves into space and figured out how to cure diseases that used to wipe out entire villages. And yet, for all that brainpower, even the sharpest people among us can be surprisingly easy to fool with a well-timed bit of classical conditioning or a simple behavioral cue.

Across a couple of Reddit threads, users shared some fun psychology tricks you can try on unsuspecting folks. Scroll down to see what they came up with, and maybe test a few out on your friends or family. Just remember to use these powers for good.

#1

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.

#2

You cannot pee your pants. If you are sober, sane, and an adult, you cannot do it. Go ahead, try. You don't need to worry, because you literally can't do it. What if I offered you €100 to pee your pants right now?

#3

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.

#4

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.

#5

If you have a crush on someone that you regularly interact with try this. If you know of a certain snack they like,offer it to them every time you say hi to them or greet them (about 7 times needed).After this,they will feel happy when seeing you even if you don't have the snack. Classical conditioning.

#6

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.

#7

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

#8

Next time you play rock, paper, scissors with someone, tell your opponent what you are going to pick and stick with it. For example, tell them before you start they you are going to pick rock and be very convincing when you do. Most of the time people will assume you are trying to trick them so they will pick scissors instead of paper. Easy way to win.

#9

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.

#10

Want a favor from someone? It's actually pretty easy using either of these two techniques: Foot in the Door, and Door in the Face.

1) This one is fun, as it works on near-strangers, like colleagues you barely know. Ask for a small favor first, then gradually build up. Say, for example, you need to move a heavy couch. Start by asking someone to hand you a book. Ask for a stapler. Ask THEM to staple you a paper. Ask for a piece of their lunch. Within a week or so, if you increase you requests gradually, you'll have a friend, a loyal servant, and a successfully moved couch.

2) This one takes much less time to set up, but is more risky. You probably want to use it on people who already like you, like friends and family. Basically, ask for something ridiculous, then scale it way down to what you actually wanted.

You, as a teenager: "Mom, can I have a new car please?"

Mom: "Of course not! We don't have the money!"

You: "Fine. Can I at least have a tattoo then?"

Mom: "I guess it would be ok.."

And BAM. Even if mom doesn't like tattoos, she feels bad for refusing your first request and jumps on the chance to make you feel better, inadvertantly falling for your trap perfectly. MWUHAHAHAHAHAHA.

#11

Pretend you don't know what a potato is.

#12

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.

#13

Ok, I got this from a previous subreddit. But the ones which have worked with me so far are -
•If someone is attracted to you they will talk in a different tone (higher or lower pitch) than normal.
•If the person you are having a conversation with has his feet pointing away from you isn't interested and vice versa.

#14

I don't know if this is a psychology trick but sometimes it's funny to just look flatly at someone while they're speaking to you (as opposed to nodding and going "uh huh" a lot) and watch them become increasingly nervous.

#15

I randomly came up with this a while ago (not saying it's original)

Ask a person to close their eyes and pretend they're on a pent house balcony in the city (or anywhere high where they can look down).

Then tell them to look down at the on-going traffic (or whatever is related to the setting you pick)

And then stand behind them and push them a little, most people I do this with had a fright.

#16

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.

#17

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.

#18

These physical signs can indicate someone is lying:

When they say something like,"Oh no, I'm perfectly fine", and their shoulder or shoulders move up, they're lying.

If their voice goes up an octave.

Their palms get sweaty or abnormally warm (you could shake their hand to tell)

You can find out more of these signs by watching a TV show, if you haven't already, called Lie to me. It's got Tim Roth in it, and it's based off of the psych findings of a guy named Paul Ekman who studies emotions and facial expressions. It's on Netflix too :)

#19

Subconscious priming is a fun one. A college professor tried this on the class and it worked. It basically worked like this: She read a list of words, then asked us which laundry detergent our mother used when we were kids. About 85% of the class answered "Tide," but that's because she primed us to say that.

Some of the words in the in the list she read were innocuous, like "wheel" and "extraordinary," but sprinkled into the list were many words that have to do with ocean tides, like "high" and "low" and "wave" and "moon" and "ocean" and "beach."

Tide is only about 40% of the detergent market share, but twice as many people will distinctly remember their mothers buying Tide detergent if you prime them correctly.

You can do the trick yourself as I explained above.

#20

Neurological test:

Make sure you have plenty of room for this.

Have someone stand up and extend their arms straight out in front of them.

Have them close their eyes and then march in place for a minute. Make sure to tell them to raise tbeir knees really high as they're marching in place.

When they're done have them open their eyes.

Laugh at the result.

#21

As a kid when I wanted the new Pokemon game I would first ask my dad for something then cut myself off and say "no I am sorry never mind" and then he would be like "no say what you were going to say" and then I said I wanted the game and then he said he would pick it up.

Yes I was a spoiled little j**k as a kid.

#22

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.

#23

Say 'fort' three times.

Now, what do you eat soup with?

#24

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.

#25

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.

#26

The cube story. I used it with my friends for fun, then moved on to use it to strangers I meet at events. Note that this might take a while so you better be charming(after doing this, you're going to be) and hope they pay attention very well (works best if they're a bit tipsy since drunks have their senses heightened and explains their answers vividly) and requires you to do a bit of adlib.

How to do it: i'll do it to you to first ;) and i'll explain it at the bottom of this wall of text.

Imagine you are in a desert, maybe a plain field like the windows xp background. You can only see the ground and the sky. Now a cube suddenly appears. Does it appear floating? Out of thin air? Or did it popped up on the ground? Or just tell me how. Next, how big is it? Does it compare to the size of your computer? Trash bin? A car? Next, What's the color of the cube? Now, if you shine a light to the cube, does all of the light pass through? Some light? Or none at all??

Next, a ladder appears by the cube, how is it positioned? Is it leaning on the cube? Is the cube sitting on it? Surprise me!

Next, a horse appears. Tell me everything about the horse, what it looks like, what is it doing, and its personality.

Finally, flowers would appear everywhere. How many are there? Where did it appear? How big is the flower?

END

The Cube represents you. So if it pops up on the ground, it means you are grounded by your decisions and your stance in life. If it is floating, then you're still not sure about it, but hey, you're willing to try something new.

Now, the size of the cube represents your ego. Bigger the cube means bigger ego or overconfident, smaller it is, the smaller you ego is. T

he color of the cube is your personality, red is violent, green is comfortable, blue is mellow. If the light passes through, then you can be emotionally be read. If none, then you're pretty hard to read but also hard for you to convey emotions deeply.

The Ladder represents family, if the ladder is leaning on the cube then you feel supported by your family. Side by side, then you are pretty tight with them. If the ladder is a bit far away then you are distanced from your family.

The Horse represents your ideal partner or your crush. What ever personality/looks then that is your answer.

Lastly, the flowers represents your problems. How many and where(pops up by the cube, ladder, horse) then you have a problem with that and how big it is then that is how much it is bothering you.

Notes: if you ever use this, BE RESPONSIBLE . I had someone broke down in front of me after this and it wasn't pretty. And I got lazy to this part because it is actually hard to explain how.

#27

This doesn't work with everyone, but it works with a lot of people. You can tell people to do this and watch, or do it yourself and experience it.

Close your eyes, hold out your arm in front of you and imagine that you're holding a string attached to 100 balloons, a big mass of balloons.

After that, do the same thing, but imagine you're holding a bucket full of sand by the handle.

What happens?

#28

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

#29

If you have anxiety while talking to someone chew some gum it tricks your brain into acting calm.

#30

If you are in an argument stay as calm as possible and when they are done stay silent and stare at them it will piss them off so much.

#31

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

#32

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

#33

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

#34

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.

#35

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

#36

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

#37

Studies show using hand gestures while speaking makes you seem more trust worthy and desirable.

#38

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

#39

Instead of telling them to have a nice day, say “I hope you enjoy your next 24 hours”.

#40

Pretend to be a person that seems to be an easy bully target. Then see how people treat that persona. Only break character when you've been challenged in any way. They won't be prepared.

#41

Get two relatives to sit next to each other, and cross their near arms over each other. Cover the top with a blanket or jumper or whatever, so they can see their forearms, wrists and hands but not their shoulders. It should look, to them like they the other one's arm is theirs.

Use a pen or a feather or something to gently tap, and move on one of their (switched) hands. Distract them, and keep re-routing their attention back. It might start to feel to them like the other person's hand is theirs! If only one person wants to play, you can do similar things with a mirror, and one of their hands on a table and the other under. You can try that one on yourself first, and see what it's like. Then, you give them instructions like 'clap', and 'tap your left hand twice, your right hand three times, and your left hand once, and your right hand another two times'. Good if they've already had a drink on Christmas day.

#42

If you interrupt someone mid sentence its often easier to get them to talk about what they really want to say or to express the true underlying issues or topic that gave rise to the original conversation to begin with.

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