3 Psychological Mind Tricks To Impress Your Friends

Students who have recently begun studying psychology might want to try out some psychological mind tricks on some of their friends. Though the tricks discussed here are cloaked in magic, they will likely make jaws drop all across the board. By practicing in front of the mirror and rehearsing their lines, people should be able to impress their friends with basic psychological trickery.

 

3. Optical Illusions

Though most people will be familiar with the brain-twisting creations of M. C. Escher, there are plenty of other optical illusions that people can use to amaze their friends. If teachers want to get the attention of the psychology class they are teaching, they might procure a book of illusions from the local library. Many of these illusions induce the brain to see movement where none really exists. When certain lines are drawn just right, for example, the brain will become tricked and will fall into an alternate reality.

If people want to showcase one of the more common psychological tricks found in nature, they need only point out the full moon as it is rising. When the moon is low in the sky, the brain tends to compare it to other non-celestial objects.

When it does this, it perceives the orb of the moon as larger than it actually is. Individuals who have never looked closely at the rising full moon will be amazed at the psychological trickery. They can pass the illusion on to their friends.

 

2. Mind Reading

Mind reading tricks are excellent ways to convince others that extrasensory perception is actually real. In most cases, people who attempt this will need a partner in crime. When a group of friends has gathered in a room, the person performing the trick will offer to leave the residence. While he/she is gone, the friends will pick out an object in the room.

Returning to the room, the individual will then begin stridently pondering which object has been chosen. When the right item is hit upon, the accomplice will perform a certain subtle action, such as winking. With the signal given, the object can be mysteriously identified. The applause should be thunderous.

For tricks in which a helper is involved, men and women will have to ensure that the signal that is given is covert. Loud coughs, for instance, will immediately be picked up.

If the trick is to be performed around the dinner table after a hearty meal, then a simple toe-tap can be given beneath the table. Mind reading tricks can generally be performed several times before most of the audience has an inkling of what is happening.

 

1. Card Tricks

Whenever psychological tricks are being discussed, a good deck of cards will always come in handy. In fact, sleight-of-hand tricks are quite easy for amateurs to master. During these tricks, the key will be to draw attention to another part of the process.

By asking the audience to focus on a card that is not central to the trick, other cards can be carefully shuffled into place. If done right, men and women can convince their friends that they are master magicians.

Some decks of cards have been subtly manipulated so that, for example, there are extra queens and kings within the deck. Thus, when friends are asked to pick a card, that same card can then be planted so that it turns up somewhere else. To master the technique, most people will need to perform quick hand movements so that the audience has a hard time identifying what is going on.