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Melissa Hughes
Oct 31, 20244 min read
Confident or Arrogant?
Confident people are perceived to be more competent. But there is a difference between confident and arrogant and 3 pitfalls to avoid.
Melissa Hughes
Sep 19, 20244 min read
The Sneaky Influence of the Peak-End Effect in Hospitality
Understanding the power of the peak-end effect empowers hospitality businesses to create memorable guest experiences.
Melissa Hughes
Jun 15, 20246 min read
The Persuasive Power of Social Proof
Social proof shows up in every aspect of our behavior and decisions. What other people say, think and do are powerful motivators.
Melissa Hughes
May 24, 20243 min read
Don't Fall into the Sunk Cost Trap
There are many psychological forces that influence decision making. The Sunk Cost Fallacy is a powerful and sometimes costly trap.
Melissa Hughes
May 1, 20243 min read
Facts Don't Win Arguments. Here's what Does
New research suggests people are open to opposing thoughts when they come from a place of personal experience, not facts.
Melissa Hughes
Apr 2, 20244 min read
How Bias Changes the Brain
Understanding how bias changes the brain - quirks in the way we think and the way we think we think.
Melissa Hughes
Mar 22, 20243 min read
The Most Common Decision-Making Trap
Despite the leaps and bounds we’ve made in understanding cognition and human behavior, decision-making is quirky.
Melissa Hughes
Dec 9, 20233 min read
The Rule of Three
Have you ever noticed how many things come in threes? The 3 little pigs, 3-ring circus, 3rd time is a charm. The brain loves threes!
Melissa Hughes
Dec 1, 20234 min read
Groupthink: Smiling and Nodding your Way to Defeat
Consensus decision-making sits just on the edge of groupthink, and it's the best way to keep the best brain power ... away from the team.
Melissa Hughes
Dec 1, 20234 min read
Put a Pencil in Your Mouth... Seriously
We'd all like to think our thoughts and decisions result from a conscious deliberate process. But, research says otherwise.
Melissa Hughes
Oct 1, 20233 min read
Are You a Victim of the "Costco Effect"?
Have you ever walked into Costco planning to buy just one or two things and walked out with a cart full of stuff you don't need?
Melissa Hughes
Oct 1, 20234 min read
The Power of Psychological Priming
Do you think retailers have the power to prime your brain? More likely than not, it happened the last time you went to the grocery store.
Melissa Hughes
Sep 13, 20235 min read
Embodied Cognition: Mind Games that Trick the Brain
The brain thinks in metaphors that have a powerful influence on the way we think and act. It's called embodied cognition and it's powerful
Melissa Hughes
Sep 11, 20234 min read
How the Ben Franklin Effect Makes Us More Likeable
The Ben Franklin effect is a psychological finding that when someone does us a favor they tend to view us more favorably.
Melissa Hughes
Jul 16, 20234 min read
Think you're all that? Dunning-Kruger effect may prove otherwise
Dunning-Kruger Effect says that people who are ignorant or unskilled tend to believe they are much more competent than they are.
Melissa Hughes
Jun 29, 20233 min read
Why Fake News Fools the Best of Us
Fake news and political propaganda are rooted in the illusory effect. It's a neural glitch that causes us to believe things that aren't true
Melissa Hughes
Jun 29, 20233 min read
How Cognitive Fluency Influences Who and What We Like
As amazing as the human brain is, it's also very lazy. The easier info is to process the more we like it, believe it and trust it.
Melissa Hughes
Jun 21, 20233 min read
Intellectual Humility: Are You Open to Being Wrong?
How receptive are you to understand why someone disagrees with you rather than persuade that person to see it your way?
Melissa Hughes
May 26, 20234 min read
The Negativity Bias: Why the bad stuff sticks
There is a reason why negative emotions have a greater psychological impact than positive ones. We can thank our ancestors for that.
Melissa Hughes
May 1, 20235 min read
Do our Names Shape our Lives?
Studies show we gravitate toward occupations and lifestyles that fit our names.It sounds incredibly narcissistic, but the research is clear.