February 06, 2023

Interesting psychological
effects that explain our brain:

The pratfall effect: Your likability will increase if you are not perfect. As a result of threatened self-esteem (in the observer), the perceived average individual's attractiveness is rated lower. The perceived able individual is rated higher after the pratfall since the able individual appears more relatable and therefore approachable and likable. 

Building on the Pratfall Effect, acknowledging past mistakes can make someone more likable. For example, Barack Obama, when running for President, admitted to smoking marijuana in college. He said, “When I was a kid, I inhaled. That was the point.” 

The Pygmalion effect: Greater expectation drives greater performance. Someone's high expectations for our performance don't only impact how we act but also impact how they act. For example, if a teacher believes one of their students is really intelligent and will be successful, they may pay them more attention, give them more detailed feedback, and continue to challenge them. 

The paradox of choice: The more choice we have, the less likely we are to be content with our decision. The paradox of choice is an observation that having many options to choose from, rather than making people happy and ensuring they get what they want, can cause them stress and problematize decision-making. The paradox of choice is that the diversity of our choices causes us stress and, ultimately, a feeling of trapped unhappiness. If you have ever purchased anything, you have experienced the paradox of choice. You stand in front of racks of clothes you don't want to try on at Target and wish there were simply two racks. 

The bystander effect: The more people who see someone in need, the less likely that person is to receive help. The bystander effect, the inhibiting influence of the presence of others on a person's willingness to help someone in need. Research has shown that, even in an emergency, a bystander is less likely to extend help when he or she is in the real or imagined presence of others than when he or she is alone. The most frequently cited real-life example of the bystander effect regards a young woman called Kitty Genovese, who was murdered in Queens, New York, in 1964, while several of her neighbors looked on. No one intervened until it was too late. 

The spotlight effect: Your mistakes are not noticed as you think. The spotlight effect is something that we all experience frequently in our everyday life. Essentially, whenever we think about what other people think about us, we tend to overestimate how likely they are to notice things that we do, as well as how likely they are to care about those things. For example, if somebody says something incorrect during a conversation, and the spotlight effect causes them to think “Now everybody must be talking about how I'm stupid,” a more balanced thought might be something like “Other people might have noticed my mistake, but they probably didn't think much of it afterwards.” 

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The focusing effect: People place too much importance on one aspect of an event and fail to recognize other factors. 

According to interaction-design.org, We learn by experience. When we touch a hot stove and burn our fingers; we learn that it’s not a good idea to do it again. From the earliest age we operate on feedback-driven learning – when we do something well, we learn to do it again and when we do something badly, we learn to do it differently or not to do it at all.