Nick Epley may teach mind-reading, but his office at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business is devoid of crystal balls and Zener cards, used to test for extra-sensory perception.

Instead, the 33-year-old assistant professor of behavioural science analyses what he says is an everyday activity. “By mind-reading, I mean how we reason about other people’s thoughts,” he says. “Mind-reading is basic to how we think about other people – whether you’re talking to your spouse, your kids, your parents, your boss, your employee – the same psychological processes go on at all those different times.”