All of them discovered it after the second time. Only two out of 20 participants discovered the trick mechanism after watching the routine for the first time. During the performance of a self-invented live routine, Kuhn and Tatler (2005) seemingly let a cigarette vanish. What are the mechanisms through which peoples’ attention can be orchestrated in a way that increases their susceptibility to deliberate deception? Kuhn and Tatler (2005) were the first to try to answer this question by examining the eye movements of observers of a magic trick ( Tatler et al., 2014). Although today a great variety of research approaches exist among the contributions to the field (for an overview, see Rensink and Kuhn, 2015 Thomas et al., 2015), a good part of the research conducted in the name of “science of magic” put its focus on the study of the diversion and deflection of peoples’ (visual) attention to conceal the mechanism of a trick (i.e., attentional misdirection Kuhn et al., 2014).
Cups and balls magic trick professional#
Several years after publication of the article “Towards a Science of Magic” ( Kuhn et al., 2008a), in which the authors argued for the scientific exploitation of the audience-proven methods of professional stage magicians, a considerable amount of research has been conducted to elucidate some of the mechanisms behind the illusions magicians have been developing and refining over decades and centuries. Introduction Looking Back on the Science of Magic (and Misdirection)
A combination of social and physical techniques of misdirection influenced participants’ overt attention most effectively. Depending on the technique of misdirection used, very different gaze patterns were observed. All the investigated techniques of misdirection, including sole usage of social cues, were shown to increase the probability of missing the trick mechanism. The ability of 120 participants to detect the mechanism of a cups-and-balls trick was assessed, and their visual fixations were recorded using an eye-tracker while they were watching the routine. In this experiment, an effort was made to disentangle the unique influence of different social and physical triggers of attentional misdirection on observers’ overt and covert attention.
Seemingly contradictory findings concerning the ability of social cues to strengthen a magic trick’s effectiveness have been published. In recent years, a body of research that regards the scientific study of magic performances as a promising method of investigating psychological phenomena in an ecologically valid setting has emerged. Department of Applied Psychology: Work, Education and Economy, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.Andreas Hergovich * and Bernhard Oberfichtner
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