Priming<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nOur mind is responding to a constant barrage of inputs, which alters our conscious behaviour…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John Bargh, at New York University, has shown how thin slicing and intuition influence our actions through a process called priming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his famous experiment, he asked participants to complete a word test which contained words synonymous with old age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the experiment, the testers were timed walking down the corridor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those that were given elderly cues were shown to walk more slowly, having been given primed for old age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In another example, students were asked to think about professors and soccer hooligans before trivial pursuit knowledge test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group that thought about professors scored 55.6% on the exam, while the soccer hooligan group scored 42.6%; A whopping statistical difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps the most shocking example of priming, however, was demonstrated when African American students were asked to declare their ethnicity on a form prior to a knowledge test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those that submitted their ethnicity performed 50% worse in the test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These experiments highlight how we operate on automatic pilot much of the time…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that worryingly, what we often consider to be free will may be an illusion, influenced by outside factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, research has shown that when speed dating, what you consciously think you seek in another person changes when you meet someone you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And when asked to explain their unconscious decision making, people often have to create a story to explain the choice they’ve made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Such an inability to control or consciously explain our choices mean that rapid cognition can sometimes lead us astray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n