The Science of Magic: Turning Tricks into Research


	The Science of Magic: Turning Tricks into Research

Djiezes

8-24-2008 8:59 AM

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tags:

science, magic, cognition, illusion, article, visual, neuroscience

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/604bd468-1595-42d7-a9e5-010dca2a5d17/E7419EAF-BEE5-4F68-9196-044042B5569C/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://scienceblogs.com/purepedantry/2008/08/the_science_of_magic.php" href="http://scienceblogs.com/purepedantry/2008/08/the_science_of_magic.php" style="font-size: 11px;">scienceblogs.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/purepedantry/2008/08/the_science_of_magic.php"><H2><A href="http://scienceblogs.com/purepedantry/2008/08/the_science_of_magic.php" id="a085003">The Science of Magic</A></H2></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/purepedantry/2008/08/the_science_of_magic.php">There is <A href="http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nrn2473.html">a fascinating review</A> in Nature Reviews Neuroscience this month about the cognitive science of magic tricks</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/purepedantry/2008/08/the_science_of_magic.php">The article attempts to list and describe in neuroscientific terms the techniques that magicians use to trick their audiences.  The authors break down these into "visual illusions (after-images), optical illusions ('smoke and mirrors'), cognitive illusions (inattentional blindness), special effects (explosions, fake gunshots, et cetera), and secret devices and mechanical artifacts (gimmicks)."  The use of visual illusions to study perception is certainly nothing new, but the emphasis on cognitive illusions -- illusions that trick higher order perceptions like attention and judgment -- is novel.</blockquote><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/clip-icon.gif" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nrn2473.html" href="http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nrn2473.html" style="font-size: 11px;">www.nature.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nrn2473.html"><SPAN class="journalname">Nature Reviews Neuroscience</SPAN></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nrn2473.html">Attention and awareness in stage magic: turning tricks into research</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nrn2473.html"><H5 class="norm"><A href="http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/vaop/ncurrent/box/nrn2473_BX1.html">Box 1 | Pickpockets pick your brain</A></H5></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nrn2473.html"><H5 class="norm"><A href="http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/vaop/ncurrent/fig_tab/nrn2473_T1.html">
Table 1<SPAN class="divider"> | </SPAN>Types of conjuring effects<SUP>*</SUP></A></H5></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nrn2473.html"><H5 class="norm"><A href="http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/vaop/ncurrent/box/nrn2473_BX3.html">Box 3 | Magic techniques in the choice-blindness paradigm</A></H5></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/E7419EAF-BEE5-4F68-9196-044042B5569C/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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