How can we be completely convinced that something happened — even when the memory itself is false? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the Lost in the Mall Study — a controversial experiment that investigated how false memories can be created.

Discover how suggestion and imagination can influence our memories, why confidence doesn’t always mean a memory is accurate, and how easily our recollections can be shaped by information from others.

Studies and links:

The Formation of False Memories | Elizabeth F. Loftus and Jacqueline Pickrell https://img3.reoveme.com/m/21e4113311781789.pdf

False Memory in Psychology | Simply Psychology https://www.simplypsychology.org/false-memory.html

Why do personality descriptions feel so accurate, even when they could apply to almost anyone? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the Barnum-Forer Effect — the psychological phenomenon that makes us believe vague, general statements are uniquely tailored to us.

Discover why we are so quick to accept flattering or seemingly personal feedback, how our desire to understand ourselves can distort our judgement, and how to recognise when something feels accurate simply because it is designed to resonate with everyone.

Studies and links:

Former Effect aslysz-diagnoza.home.amu.edu.pl/diagnoza/wyklad/Barnum_ForerEffect.pdf

Why do we believe our horoscopes? | The Decision Lab https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/barnum-effect

Why do we feel like we've changed so much in the past - but assume we won't change much in the future? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the End of History Illusion - the tendency to recognise how much we have changed, while underestimating how much we will continue to change. We often see our current personality, preferences, values, and goals as the finished version of ourselves, even though our past selves once felt exactly the same.

Discover why we struggle to imagine our future selves accurately, how this illusion shapes the choices we make today, and why the person you become may surprise you.

Studies and links:

The "end of history illusion" illusion | The British Psychological Society https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/end-history-illusion-illusion

The End of History Illusion | Jordi Quoidbach, Daniel T. Gilbert, Timothy D. Wilson https://dtg.sites.fas.harvard.edu/Quoidbach%20et%20al%202013.pdf

Why do we need more than just food and survival to truly thrive? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore Harry Harlow’s controversial monkey experiments — research that challenged the idea that attachment is simply about satisfying physical needs. We examine how the monkeys sought comfort and security, while also confronting the serious ethical questions surrounding the experiments.

Discover why comfort and emotional security matter, but also why Harlow’s findings cannot be reduced to comfort alone — healthy development depends on connection, social interaction, learning, and a wider environment that meets our psychological needs.

Studies and links:

Revisiting Harry Harlow's Legacy: Cruelty Towards Monkeys | Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/the-first-impression/201607/revisiting-harry-harlow-s-legacy-cruelty-towards-monkeys

Harry Harlow Monkey Experiments in Psychology | Simply Psychology https://www.simplypsychology.org/harlow-monkey.html

The Nature of Love | Harry Harlow https://users.sussex.ac.uk/~grahamh/RM1web/Classic%20papers/Harlow1958.pdf

Why do we remember an experience based on its most intense moment and how it ended, rather than the experience as a whole? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the Peak-End Rule - the psychological bias that causes our memories of an experience to be shaped disproportionately by its emotional peak and its final moments.

Discover how our memories can distort the way we judge past experiences, why a great ending can transform how we remember something difficult, and how the moments we remember most can influence the decisions we make next.

Studies and links:

When More Pain Is Preferred to Less: Adding a Better End | Daniel Kahneman and Barbara Fredrickson https://ibio-v2.s3.amazonaws.com/media/course/SYR/2020/when-more-pain-is-preferred-to-less--adding-a-better-end.pdf

How do our memories differ from our experiences? | The Decision Lab https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/peak-end-rule

Why can something as simple as a warm cup of coffee change the way we see another person? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the Hot Coffee study - research showing how physical sensations can subconsciously influence our social judgements.

Discover how something as subtle as temperature can shape our perceptions without as realising it, and how our physical experiences are not at all unrelated to our social ones.

Studies and links:

Does Physical Warmth Prime Social Warmth? | John A. Bargh and David Melnikoff https://acmelab.yale.edu/sites/default/files/bargh_melnikoff_reply_to_chabris_et_al_2019.pdf

Hot Drinks Equal Warm Feelings, as Scientists Link Physical and Emotional Warmth | pbs.org

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/science-july-dec08-warmth_10-24

Why do we want something more simply because it's harder to get? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the Scarcity Effect - the psychological tendency to place greater value on things that seem rare, limited, or about to disappear.

Discover how scarcity shapes our decisions, why "limited-time offers" and exclusive opportunities feel so irresistible, and how to recognise when urgency is driving your choices more than genuine value.

Studies and links:

How to Boost Desire Using the Psychology of Scarcity | Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/automatic-you/201307/how-boost-desire-using-the-psychology-scarcity

Scarcity | The Decision Lab https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/anthropology/scarcity

Why do we unconsciously become more like the people around us? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the Chameleon Effect — the psychological tendency to automatically mirror the behaviours, attitudes, and habits of those around us, often without even realising it.

Discover how the people you surround yourself with quietly shape the way you think, act, and grow, why your environment matters more than you might expect, and how choosing the right influences can help you become the person you want to be.

Studies and links:

The Chameleon Effect: The Perception-Behavior Link and Social Interaction | Tanya L. Chartrand and John A. Bargh | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1999, Vol 76, No.6, 893-910 https://acmelab.yale.edu/sites/default/files/1999_the_chameleon_effect.pdf

Chameleon Effect | The Decision Lab https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/psychology/chameleon-effect