Chameleon Effect

The chameleon effect refers to a person's ability to seamlessly move from one persona or skill set to another in order to "blend in" with the environment, much like a chameleon changes color to match its background. This is most easily accomplished by people of high intelligence who possess excellent skills of observation and/or come from a background that contains a variety of learning experiences. This talent can be useful in everyday settings- for example it would be useful for a businessperson who is a Little League coach and a volunteer teacher at their church. Each of these these roles requires a different sets of skills and knowledge but is well within the range that humans are capable of. There are, however, several well-documented cases of con artists using the chameleon effect to their advantage that have passed themselves of as doctors, lawyers, etc. and have successfully carried on these false identities for considerable time.