Premium
The Applied Cognitive Psychology of Attention: A Step Closer to Understanding Magic Tricks
Author(s) -
Demacheva Irina,
Ladouceur Martin,
Steinberg Ellis,
Pogossova Galina,
Raz Amir
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/acp.2825
Subject(s) - magic (telescope) , psychology , cognition , perspective (graphical) , cognitive science , cognitive psychology , visual arts , neuroscience , art , physics , quantum mechanics
Summary Drawing on psychological science, magic provides a unique perspective on applied cognition. Only sparse systematic research, however, documents the thought processes associated with viewing magic tricks. With responses from over 1000 participants, here, we show how individuals construe a classic magic routine wherein a performer appears to vanish a pen. Thirty‐four percent of participants correctly identified the key moment of the disappearance with only 11% thereof knowing what actions the magician actually performed to achieve the effect. Our collective findings support what magicians have known for a long time: knowing when a critical maneuver occurs hardly reveals the associated modus operandi . In line with a modern theory of attention, we discuss our results and highlight the interaction between the when and where attention modules as a necessary component of applied cognition in ecological settings. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.