Real-Life Mentalist EXPLAINS The Mentalist! Persuasion and Mind-Control Secrets Revealed! Part 8.

Summary

In this video, mentalist and social psychologist Spidey breaks down key scenes from *The Mentalist*, focusing on persuasion techniques used by the character Patrick Jane. He highlights how influence is built through rapport, connection, and identifying others' needs. Spidey also discusses scientific principles, like commitment and initiation, which raise the perceived value of a group or person. Using real-world psychology examples, he teaches viewers how to detect influence tactics and use them effectively. The video aims to help people understand persuasion in both fictional settings and real-life scenarios.

Takeaways

• 😀 Patrick Jane expertly uses persuasion techniques, especially by breaking characters out of their role and making them connect as humans.
• 🤔 He uses suggestive language disguised as a question, nodding to create agreement and rapport with the person he's talking to.
• 🎭 By highlighting shared values or needs, such as seeking attention or affection, he builds a deeper connection with the subject.
• 🎯 When people are made to work or endure hardships for something, they often value it more. This principle is used in various social situations, like fraternities or romantic relationships.
• 📚 The ‘commitment’ principle shows that when individuals go through challenges, they psychologically justify their efforts by increasing the value of what they gain in return.
• 🔍 During interrogations, keeping the subject in short-term thinking (here and now) prevents them from overthinking the consequences of their confessions.
• 🤝 Establishing rapport by finding common ground, like admitting to being a ‘geek,’ can help make subjects feel comfortable enough to open up.
• 🕵️‍♂️ Patrick notices body language and inconsistencies, such as a lack of suspicion towards a crazy woman, to infer guilt or knowledge of deeper secrets.
• ⚖️ In interrogation, shifting blame subtly and watching how someone reacts can reveal whether they’re hiding information.
• 🎬 Although the scenes are fictional, they’re based on real psychological principles and interrogation techniques that involve rapport building, understanding human needs, and using strategic persuasion.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video by Spidey?

The main focus of the video is to break down scenes from the hit series 'The Mentalist', focusing on persuasion techniques and how to influence people to do what you want them to do, as well as how to be aware of such attempts.

How does Spidey explain the persuasion technique used by the character in 'The Mentalist'?

Spidey explains that the character uses a multi-step technique involving breaking character to connect human-to-human, identifying needs, creating a connection with a past figure, and linking those needs to the action required in the present.

What is the significance of the character Yolanda Quinn in the script?

Yolanda Quinn is an impersonator and street performer who is suspected of stealing a parking ticket. The character serves as an example of how persuasion techniques can be used to influence someone to reveal information or take action.

What psychological principle is discussed in relation to corporate retreats?

The psychological principle discussed is that individual humiliation can raise the perceived value of a group. This is based on the idea that when individuals go through challenges to be part of a group, they feel a higher sense of commitment and value towards the group.

What study does Spidey reference to support the principle of individual humiliation raising group value?

Spidey references a study from the 1950s by researchers Erisson and Mills, where women who went through initiation challenges to join a seminar rated the experience as more valuable than those who joined without any challenges.

How does the principle of commitment relate to the perceived value of something?

The principle of commitment suggests that when we go through hardships to obtain something, our brain justifies the effort by increasing the perceived value of that thing, making it seem more valuable and worthwhile.

What is the application of the commitment principle in romantic relationships as discussed in the script?

In romantic relationships, the commitment principle suggests that we tend to value a person more if they make us 'work' for their attention, as the effort we put into pursuing them justifies their perceived value.

What interrogation technique does Patrick Jane use in the scene with the teenager?

Patrick Jane uses a technique that involves keeping the person interrogated in short-term thinking, creating rapport, minimizing the severity of the situation, and shifting blame to others to see their reactions.

How does Patrick Jane set up the final interrogation scene to get a confession?

Patrick Jane sets up the final interrogation scene by making it seem like an innocent woman will be arrested for a crime she didn't commit. He uses the teenager's protective nature and sense of justice against him to elicit a confession.

What book does Spidey recommend for learning more about influence and persuasion?

Spidey recommends the book 'Influence', which contains numerous studies on how people try to influence others and how one can do the same.

What new feature does Spidey introduce at the end of the video?

Spidey introduces a new feature where he offers to analyze and provide insights into situations where viewers feel they have been unduly influenced or persuaded in their lives.

Outlines

00:00

🕷️ Persuasion Techniques in 'The Mentalist'

In this paragraph, the narrator, Spidey, introduces himself as a mentalist and social psychology expert. He explains his intention to analyze scenes from the series 'The Mentalist' to explore persuasion techniques. Spidey dissects a scene where a character uses various influence strategies to convince an impersonator to hand over a stolen parking ticket. The scene illustrates the importance of connecting with people on a human level, identifying their needs, and leveraging those needs to persuade them. Spidey points out the subtleties of language used in the scene, such as the use of a statement disguised as a question to create a sense of connection and influence the subject's actions.

05:00

🧠 The Power of Humiliation in Group Dynamics

This section delves into the psychological principle that individual humiliation can paradoxically raise the perceived value of a group. Spidey references a study from the 1950s by researchers Erinson and Mills, which demonstrated that people who go through challenging initiations to join a group tend to place higher value on their membership. He contrasts this with those who join without any challenges. The narrator explains how this principle is applied in various social settings, such as college fraternities and sororities, and even in romantic relationships, where the pursuit of someone who is hard to win over can increase their perceived value. Spidey also suggests a book, 'Influence', for those interested in learning more about the science behind persuasion.

10:02

🔎 Mastering Interrogation and Instinct Trust

The focus of this paragraph is on the art of interrogation, as demonstrated by a scene from 'The Mentalist'. Patrick Jane, the protagonist, is trying to elicit information from a teenager whose father was a victim. Patrick uses the technique of keeping the subject in short-term thinking to prevent them from overthinking their responses. He establishes rapport by identifying with the teenager and downplaying the severity of potential actions. Patrick then shifts blame to different individuals to observe the teenager's reactions, noting a lack of suspicion towards a particular woman, which suggests the teenager might know more than he's letting on. This observation is key to Patrick's strategy for obtaining a confession.

15:03

🗣️ The Art of Confession Extraction

In this paragraph, Patrick Jane orchestrates a scenario designed to elicit a confession from a teenager. He plays on the teenager's protective nature and lack of suspicion towards a woman he believes to be innocent. Patrick sets up a fake arrest of this woman, knowing that the teenager, if he has information, would feel compelled to prevent an innocent person from being wrongfully accused. The teenager's reaction to the staged arrest confirms his knowledge of the crime, leading to a confession. The paragraph concludes with Spidey offering to help viewers who have experienced persuasion or influence in their lives, encouraging them to share their stories in the comments for analysis and advice.

Keywords

💡Persuasion

Persuasion is the art of influencing someone's behavior or beliefs. In the context of the video, it is used to describe how individuals can be convinced to perform certain actions. The script discusses various techniques of persuasion, such as creating a human connection and appealing to someone's needs, exemplified by the scene where Patrick Jane persuades Yolanda to hand over a ticket by connecting with her desires for acceptance and attention.

💡Mentalist

A mentalist is an entertainer who appears to read minds, predict thoughts, or perform other feats of mental agility. The video's presenter, Spidey, identifies as a mentalist and uses his knowledge of social psychology to analyze scenes from 'The Mentalist' TV series, focusing on how characters persuade and are persuaded.

💡Influence Techniques

Influence techniques refer to the methods used to affect someone's thoughts or actions. The video breaks down scenes to highlight how characters in 'The Mentalist' employ such techniques, like establishing a connection or appealing to someone's desires, to persuade them to act in a certain way.

💡Social Psychology

Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, behaviors, and feelings are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Spidey, the presenter, has a degree in social psychology, which he uses to analyze the dynamics of persuasion and influence in the video.

💡Initiation

Initiation refers to a process or ceremony marking entry into a group or a new phase of life. The video discusses how initiations, such as those in fraternities or sororities, increase the perceived value of the group by making individuals go through challenges to join.

💡Commitment

Commitment in the video refers to the psychological principle where individuals are more likely to value something they have worked hard to obtain. This concept is illustrated through the example of corporate retreats and how they can increase team cohesion and perceived value through shared experiences and challenges.

💡Interrogation

Interrogation is the process of questioning someone, especially in a formal or official context. The video provides an analysis of an interrogation scene from 'The Mentalist', explaining how Patrick Jane uses specific techniques to elicit a confession from a suspect.

💡Subconscious Reaction

A subconscious reaction is an involuntary response that occurs without conscious awareness. The script mentions that the characters' reactions in 'The Mentalist' are likely scripted, but in real-life scenarios, such reactions can be indicative of a person's true feelings or knowledge, as seen when Patrick Jane notices a character's reaction to a situation.

💡Rapport

Rapport is a harmonious relationship characterized by agreement or mutual understanding. In the video, Patrick Jane establishes rapport with a suspect by identifying shared experiences or feelings, which helps in building trust and getting the suspect to open up during the interrogation.

💡Instinct

Instinct in this context refers to a natural, typically fixed pattern of behavior in response to certain stimuli. Patrick Jane repeatedly tells the suspect to 'trust your instincts' to encourage immediate, unfiltered responses, which can be more revealing during an interrogation.

💡Deception

Deception is the act of causing someone to believe something that is not true, often for personal gain or to avoid punishment. The video analyzes a scene where Patrick Jane identifies deception not through typical signs of lying but through inconsistencies in behavior and reactions.

Highlights

The value of a group is raised when an individual is humiliated.

Persuasion techniques are used to influence people to do what you want.

Identifying needs is crucial for effective persuasion.

Creating a connection with the person you're persuading is an important step.

Subconscious reactions can reveal when someone has information.

Corporate retreats can increase group cohesion through shared experiences.

Initiations and challenges increase commitment and perceived value.

The principle of commitment justifies hardships to obtain something.

Romantic relationships can be influenced by the effort required to gain attention.

The book 'Influence' is recommended for understanding persuasion techniques.

Leadership can be identified by lack of reaction to new events.

Inconsistencies in behavior can indicate deception.

Interrogation techniques involve keeping the subject in short-term thinking.

Creating rapport in an interrogation can encourage openness.

Minimizing the severity of an action can help elicit a confession.

Protective instincts can be used to reveal information during an interrogation.

A confession can be obtained by appealing to a person's sense of justice.

The video offers to help viewers understand and prevent persuasion in their lives.

Transcripts

when the individual is humiliated their

perceived value of the group

is raised and you can too you will you

will you'll land if you do the right

thing now

what thing hey everyone my name is

spidey and i'm an award-winning

mentalist with a degree in social

psychology

and in this video i'm going to continue

to break down scenes from the hit series

the mentalist

and we're going to focus a lot on

persuasion this week how we can

influence people to do the things we

want them to do

and how to be on the lookout for people

who are trying to influence us

it's going to be a lot of fun stick

around here we go what's your real real

name

yolanda quinn yolanda you don't actually

look very much like marilyn at all

you do this kind of work because you

feel a deep connection with her yeah

i guess yeah she was a lonesome soul

poor woman

longed for affection attention

acceptance

she got it she came out here and she

worked hard and she struggled

and she got it all the love and respect

that she longed for

and you can too you will you will your

land if you do the right thing now

what thing hand over the valley ticket

yolanda that you stole from the dead man

i haven't gotten your balance and tell

charlie to hand it over

give him the ticket give it

thank you we are starting with one of

the best persuasion scripts

from the entire series he is using so

many great

influence techniques in that one little

scene and

it's just beautifully scripted he's on a

crime scene and he's been told that

there's a missing parking ticket

and he's talking to two impersonators

street performers

and he suspects that one of them has it

so he asks what her real name is

this breaks her out of her character and

makes them connect human to human that's

step one

then he says this story he says you do

this kind of work because you feel

connected to her yeah and he nods as he

says that

look at that wording that's not a

question that's a command

or a suggestion hiding as a question you

feel connected to her

and he nods like this so he's creating a

connection

now that that connection exists he's

talking about maryland and how she was

looking for

affection attention and acceptance but

he's not really talking about maryland

he doesn't know what marilyn monroe

wanted

he's talking about the woman in front of

him in order to

influence people you have to identify

what needs they have

in life and he sees this actress in

front of him who's trying to get famous

so obviously acceptance and attention is

important to her so by highlighting that

he further emphasizes that connection

with her and marilyn

then he says and marilyn got all those

things and you can too

if you do the right thing now so he's

created a connection now

between her getting the things she wants

and doing the right thing

now and she goes what thing and he says

hand over the parking ticket now as soon

as he says that

we see the charlie chaplin character

turn away like this look down

close his eyes he licks his lips and his

fingers starts fidgeting by his side

like this

they're drumming on his side now i

totally understand this is fiction

these are actors this was not a real

subconscious reaction

but i'm betting that he was told to do

these things because the camera zooms

out

it's because patrick would have noticed

that and being the expert on body

language that he is he would have known

that the moment he mentioned that

he saw that this guy has information as

well but

now he's got her and she says i don't

have the ticket

but he noticed what the guy did and he

says then tell him to give it to me and

she goes

come on just hand it over to him it's

really a perfect strategy

to play to her basic needs and get her

to take action

right there and then with this next

scene we're going to look at a

psychology principle

that will make you or your product or

your service feel a lot more valuable

to people and really make them want it

more but before we do do me a huge favor

guys

hit that subscribe button turn those

notifications on for more mentalism and

psychology so for a bit of context

patrick and his associate lisben are

coming back

from a corporate retreat where they

spoke to a small group of people

who work together and one of them

recently died while they were doing this

really dangerous activity all of them

together

and none of them seem to want to

cooperate despite the fact that they're

trying

to help find what happened to their

friend that's what these corporate

retreats are all about

it's primitive brainwashing uh via group

subframe it's like

office karaoke or uh fraternity hazel

how so well when the individual is

humiliated

their perceived value of the group is

raised there's a lot to talk about with

this scene but before we dive in

i just want to say this i don't fully

agree with him when he says that

corporate retreats are a way to

brainwash

the employees i think a lot of corporate

retreats out there are a great way for

team building

and to get to know the people you work

with but i'm more interested with what

he says

right there at the end how individual

humiliation

raises the perceived value of the group

and this

is not only true but scientifically

heavily proven

one of my favorite studies is from the

50s from researchers erinson

and mills and what they did was

brilliant they

created this group of women who were

going to have

a seminar and a discussion about

sexuality

now there were two types of women who

were allowed to come into this group

one group had almost no initiation or

anything that they had to do before they

were let in

and the other group had to go through a

series of challenges and initiations

to be led into this seminar now here was

the catch

the group that were holding the seminar

were told

don't give any value don't give any

information don't talk about anything

interesting it was purposely supposed to

be a bad seminar

and at the end the people who attended

were asked

how much value they think they got and

all the ones who were let in for free

without any right of passage

said a lot lower or more negative things

about it like

yeah we didn't get much value but those

people who went through all these

challenges

to be allowed to go in said it was very

valuable

and how much they learned and how much

they gained this proved

that when we go through hardships or

challenges to be part of something

our perceived value is raised and this

is used by groups all over the world

whenever we think of

initiations in college to be part of a

sorority or a fraternity that's what it

is

they're they're not only testing how

much you want this

but those challenges themselves will

cause more commitment

in tribal times and even in tribes today

in less developed parts of the world

there are rites of passage and things

that people have to go through to

officially be an adult

in the tribe and researchers have found

very high relations between

that the challenges and how difficult

they are and how much that tribe

has a sense of pride in each other the

reason this works is because of one of

the pillars of persuasion

which is called commitment when we go

through a lot of hardships to obtain

something our brain has to justify to

ourselves

why we did all those difficult things to

get here and the way it does that

is by saying well this is very valuable

this is a really unique and valuable

thing

so it was totally worth you doing all

those things this also applies to

romantic relationships and i'm gonna say

something right now

that's gonna make so many of you go oh

that's what that is it's gonna be like a

light bulb moment

because we've all experienced this in

romantic relationships

we tend to feel more desire or we feel

more value

towards someone who makes us work for

their attention

if they make it too easy they're too

available we tend to be indifferent or a

little distant

but if someone's you know not really

answering you or giving you a hard time

we tend to run after that more for the

exact same reason

because we have to do all that work we

tell ourselves in our minds

well this is an excellent person that

i'm gonna that i'm gonna get at the end

of the day

because i did all these things the mind

is backwards justifying let me know in

the comments what aspects of your life

or what other industries

you've noticed this kind of thing and

i'd even love to hear it from your

personal life if there was a situation

where you felt like you saw something as

more valuable than it was

only because you had to work for it i

would love to hear your stories let me

know in the comments

oh and by the way if you're interested

in learning more about the commitment

principle

and other scientifically proven ways

that we can influence people or that

people try to influence

us i can't recommend a book more than

this influence

this is one of the best-selling books on

the subject and it's got a ton of

studies in there

and it tells you how people will try to

influence your thoughts

and how you can do the same i'll leave a

link in the description

it's one of my favorites now it's time

for an update from the last video that i

did about the mentalist so in the last

video

i showed two scenes where uh patrick

jane walked into this biker bar

again with lisbon and he immediately

identified

the alpha of the group the leader of the

group because the guy didn't in any way

react when they came in he kept doing

his thing and i explained to you why

that allowed patrick to know that this

was the leader then i showed you another

scene

where patrick asked him a question and

immediately knew

that the guy was lying but there were no

signs of deception

so how did patrick know now a lot of you

got the answer really right

and i'm super impressed i didn't think

that many people would but the answer is

basically this

in that second scene there was a crazy

woman

causing a scene outside the bar and

the guy the leader was very interested

he stopped what he was doing he was

looking at her

and when patrick asked him do you know

who she is

he said never seen her before and she

looks mentally deranged

so yes he didn't have any signs of

deception he told that lie very calmly

but patrick knows for a fact that he

knows this woman

because he stopped to take interest in

her and a leader like that an alpha like

that

would not and he already proved that

when the fbi came in

and he couldn't even look up from his

pool game now he's looking at this

crazy woman outside the bar so that

inconsistency told patrick

that he does know her so he must be

lying with this next scene we're going

to get a

master class on interrogation and how

you can get people to give you the

answers to pretty much

anything just trust your instincts

they're always right

you're a good instructor can't be easy

go through life being labeled the gang

lawyer's son

it wasn't really that bad i mean girls

would come up to me all the time

talk to me about dad and the gang like

i'm cool instead of

a geek which i basically am everybody is

i am

if he was my father i tell you i

i'd be mad at it dad didn't mean to hurt

anyone

he was just doing his job right well i

guess i still love him if he was my

father

can't say i'd cut him the same kind of

slack if i was married to him

trying to blame my mom if you are

what you're wrong that's all

she loved him too well that brings us

back to felicia guthrie who didn't love

him at all

what exactly did she say to you when you

saw her it's hard to tell

she was just you know ranting basically

didn't make much sense

very nicely done we'll be out cruising

on saturday nights in no time

just remember trust your instincts

they're always right

thank you and thanks for the driving

lesson

so for a bit of context in this episode

the father of that teenager was

the victim and in this scene patrick is

trying to figure out

if the kid knows anything or more

importantly if he's guilty of anything

so the first thing he does is he says

the line right in the beginning and he

says it at the end as well

he says trust your instincts they're

always right and it seems like he's

talking about driving

but he's not almost any professional

interrogator

in the world will tell you that one of

the most important things

is to keep the person you're

interrogating what we call short-term

thinking in other words you can't let

them think about the consequences

of their confession you got to keep them

in the here and the now what's important

in this exchange so by saying trust your

instincts basically

he's telling the kid go with what you

feel don't overthink it because if he

starts overthinking it

he's not going to be as chatty the next

thing is when the kid says you know

people were treating me good as opposed

to the geek that i am he creates

instant rapport by saying everyone's a

geek i'm a geek so he's creating this

sort of bond of like

we're the same you and i and like i can

tell you that

and you could tell me things as well

then he starts

listing things about the dad that would

have made him upset and he says a very

important line he goes i know if he was

my dad i would have been upset

and this again is a very good technique

for interrogators where

they kind of minimize the severity of

what happened

and connect with the person by saying

hey listen we've all been in a situation

like that

i know if i was in your position i would

have done that too and this is to

encourage your kid to go

yeah you know what i was mad at him but

the kid doesn't he makes excuses

he defends his father so then patrick

jane moves on

and shifts the blame to the mom and says

yeah you know what i kind of get how

as his kid you would love him but now if

i was if it was the wife

and now the kid goes no no it's not my

mom either so he's got this protective

nature

of other people and so finally he brings

up the third woman which is ironically

the crazy woman

from the bar who was yelling and

screaming who showed up at the house

when the kid was there and yelled

at him and he says well that just leaves

her and again

the kid defends her and he goes no you

know i don't she was just yelling and

screaming

now patrick notices something really

smart here

if this kid was innocent he would be a

little bit more suspicious of that crazy

woman

the reason that he's like oh yeah she

was just yelling some gibberish and

doesn't seem to think

that she for sure had something to do

with it is because he must have more

information

so he takes this information that he

gathered and he sets up a brilliant plan

to get a confession

and here it is thanks for coming down

mrs hodge

this woman's name is felicia guthrie she

murdered your husband out of revenge for

getting von mcbride off her charge

for killing her brother oh my god no i

did not kill anything

we have evidence

we just need your permission for uh

lucas to make a formal statement saying

that he saw her at your house today the

murder

lucas if you can confirm that this is

who you saw

then you'll be on your way

what's gonna happen to her probably life

in prison uh

if she's lucky she might get paroled in

25 years no

i swear i did i didn't touch shut up you

took

everything from us lucas went into her

now so could you identify her

no she wasn't the one i mean yeah she

came to the house great thanks that's

all we need take away guys thank you do

anything

i didn't do anything wrong trust your

instincts lucas they're always right

the only way we can know for certain is

if you tell us who did it okay

stop talking to my son you've got your

statement lucas let's go

come on let's go

it was me wow

what an epic conclusion so in the car

he noticed two things about the kid one

is that

he has his protective nature because

anyone he was trying to shift the blame

on the kid was like

no no and he was like protecting those

people so he's a natural protector

and the second thing is he didn't seem

upset enough at this crazy woman

so he sets up this plan where he's going

to make it look like they're going to

arrest this woman

unfairly because he knows that if this

kid has information

he'll feel really bad knowing that an

innocent woman is being arrested

so they bring her in they make it seem

like there's this evidence and they're

gonna put her in jail for the rest of

her life

and you could see the mom is all worked

up because she doesn't know she thinks

it could be her

but the kid is super like like thinking

about it like sad about it because he

knows

she's innocent and then patrick delivers

that line again

he says trust your instincts they're

always right to keep them again

in the now because what's more important

right now is your instinct to tell the

truth

and they just get that confession and

this was a two-part

interrogation that he built into a

confession and although it's fiction

it's based on real interrogation

technique and it

is beautiful i want to do something

brand new with this video

for you guys because in this video we're

talking about how we can influence

people to get them to do things or try

to get information out of them

but also i want to not only teach you

this stuff but i want to help you so

if there was ever a situation in your

life where you felt like you did

something

that you feel like you were persuaded or

influenced to do or you don't feel like

that's what you wanted to do but the

person in front of you

somehow got you to do something or even

if it happened to one of your friends

let me know in the comments and i would

love to sort of look at that situation

and tell you

okay so here's what could have happened

and here's how you could prevent it next

time

because i want to not only inform you

guys i want to help you guys

so thanks for watching guys hope you

enjoyed it let me know in the comments

what you thought of the video

and i will see you on the next one