Though searches are performed almost instantly, travel sites added fake "Searching..." screens after learning that customers are skeptical of deals that appear too quickly.
The placebo effect can help with weight loss. In one experiment, people told a milkshake was high in calories were far less hungry than people told it was a low-cal shake.
Expectations matter. When identically-prepared chicken a la king was served to people in 10 different eateries, it got top marks at a fancy restaurant and bad reviews at a boarding school.
Google Research director Peter Norvig discovered that "getting the worst possible score on an interview" at 1>Google1> was a "really good indicator" of success at the company.
In a brainstorming experiment at Yale, students working alone produced twice as many solutions as those in groups and their solutions were deemed more feasible and effective.
Though Finland's army held off the USSR for 105 days in 1940's Winter War, President Kyösti Kallio had to concede defeat. "Let the hand wither," he said, "that signs this monstrous treaty!" Within months his arm was paralyzed.