My problem with this book is that it relies heavily on priming studies. The idea is that you "primed" them for some set of behaviors.
Here's an example of a study that supposedly supports this. Participants held a pen in their mouth in one of two ways:
- Between the teeth, without touching the lips. This activates some of the muscles used in smiling.
- Between the lips, without using the teeth. This inhibits those smile-related muscles.
If you think that's stupid and reading into this is foolish it's because it is. A lot of the arguments in this book are built in a delicate set of assumptions that are supported by equally ridiculous and contrived experiments, many of which cannot be reproduced.