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POPSScientists Reveal Magicians Secrets A new study, detailed in the current online issue of the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences, reveals how elements of human cognition, such as awareness and perception, could be explained by the success of some techniques commonly used by magicians. "What people actually saw was not related to where they were looking," Kuhn told LiveScience. "Several participants who were looking at the object being dropped failed to see how it was done." Even though their eyes were focused on the objects, their attention was elsewhere, he said. More mental tricks For example, a vanishing ball illusion indicates that anticipation plays a factor in what we see, and our minds fill in the blanks. In this trick, the magician tosses a red ball into the air two times and on the third throw, instead of releasing the ball, the magician holds onto it. However, study participants reported seeing the magician toss the ball into the air three times before the ball "disappears."
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