WHERE SCIENCE COMES TO THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE ,
MAGIC BEGINS .
- SAM H SHARPE become magic aficionados , and to pursue scientific inquiry in magic . I also firmly believe that the course makes students more effective critical thinkers . It enhances awareness of how readily our senses can be deceived and provides students with a toolbox that allows them to see through bunkum . Part of the course ’ s effectiveness stems from the fact that it is deceptive in and of
56 itself . Students enter the course thinking they will be immersing themselves in a world of fantasy and wonder ( which they are ), but they are fooled into learning about STEAM along the way . ■
References
Barnhart , A . S . ( 2010 ). The exploitation of Gestalt principles by magicians . Perception , 39 , 1286-1289 . https :// doi . org / 10.1068 / p6766
Barnhart , A . S ., Ehlert , M . J ., Goldinger , S . D ., & Mackey , A . D . ( 2018 ). Cross-modal attentional entrainment : Insights from magicians . Attention , Perception , & Psychophysics , 80 , 1240-1249 . https :// doi . org / 10.3758 / s13414-018-1497-8
Grassi , P . R ., & Bartels , A . ( 2021 ). Magic , Bayes and wows : A Bayesian account of magic tricks . Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews , 126 , 515-527 . https :// doi . org / 10.1016 / j . neubiorev . 2021.04.001
Triplett , N . ( 1900 ). The psychology of conjuring deceptions . The American Journal of Psychology , 11 ( 4 ), 439-510 . https :// doi . org / 10.2307 / 1412365
PROFESSOR ANTHONY BARNHART
Professor Anthony Barnhart received his Ph . D . in cognitive science from Arizona State University , where he began his graduate career with the intention of being a language researcher . To this end , he has published research examining the processes underlying handwritten word perception , a domain that has been largely ignored by psychologists until now .
Prof . Barnhart is also a part-time professional magician with more than 30 years of performing experience . His research trajectory changed in 2010 with the publication of the book Sleights of Mind : What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about our Everyday Deceptions , in which he was featured by the authors as a consultant and teacher on the science of stage magic . The scientific interest that the book garnered motivated Prof . Barnhart to shift his focus toward the interface of science and magic .
His research program in the science of magic explores the intuitions of magicians and attempts to marry this folk psychology with formal scientific models in the domains of attention and perception . This work has been featured in Science News For Kids as well as in national and international television appearances and documentaries , most recently appearing on the longrunning CBC science program , The Nature of Things .