Behaviour. Use of English B 1

If you … to persuade someone to dress up as a tree in public, what would you do?

If you wanted to … money for charity on the streets, who would you ask to help you?

What would you do if you wanted to sell cakes and nobody was buying them? What would you do if you … to think creatively but didn't have any ideas?

One thing you could do … watch a programme from the BBC series

The People Watchers.

The programme asks the question 'Why do we do what we do?' Through twenty episodes, Professor Richard Wiseman, two psychologists and a neuroscientist do experiments

involving members of the public, secretly … them with a hidden camera.

The experiments … why we behave the way we do in everyday situations.

If you wanted to know how to get a seat on a crowded train, stop people from jumping … , get someone to do you a favour, work out if someone is lying, and get a complete stranger to lend you a mobile phone, you could find out by watching.

In one experiment, two of Wiseman's psychologists pretended … cake-sellers.

They stood at a … on the street and tried to sell cakes for a pound each.

No one bought any. So they did what shops do: they … a sale.

But it wasn't a real sale. They pretended that one cake cost two pounds, and if you bought a cake, you would get another one … .

People started buying! Later they told people that the cakes usually cost two pounds but they were doing a special deal and … them for just one pound.

It seems that everyone … the idea of a bargain even if they aren't really getting one.

Another experiment looked at ʼexperts' who … . Emma, a psychologist, pretended to be a hairdresser.

While ‘cutting' three people's hair, she talked … a hairdresser, saying all the right things, and dropped a few bits of fake hair.

The three volunteers later said they … very happy with their haircuts.

In reality, Emma hadn't cut any hair. Richard Wiseman's conclusion? People would do better if they didn't always listen to 'experts'. … , they should trust their own eyes.

In another experiment, Jack, a psychologist, had to … ordinary people to dress up as a tree.

The trick was to 'start small'. First, Jack asked a man to wear a badge; then he asked him to wear a cap; and finally the tree … .

This, Wiseman says, … 'The foot in the door technique': if you want a big favour from someone, first ask for a small favour!