Never Repeat the Same Trick Twice—Unless it is Cognitively Impenetrable

Ekroll, Vebjørn; Bruyckere, Evy De; Vanwezemael, Lotte; Wagemans, Johan

doi:10.1177/2041669518816711

Cited by 17 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…In addition to replicating this previous finding, the present findings indicate that tricks based on the illusion of absence are similarly robust to repetition as tricks based on amodal completion. As previously argued by Ekroll, De Bruyckere, et al (2018), tricks based on perceptual illusions can be expected to be robust to repetition due to the robust and persistent nature of perceptual illusions (Firestone & Scholl, 2016;Leslie, 1988;Pylyshyn, 1999). Thus, the present findings suggest that the mechanisms underlying the illusion of absence are perceptual in nature, just like those underlying amodal completion (Ekroll, Mertens, et al, 2018;Gerbino & Zabai, 2003;Kanizsa, 1985;Michotte et al, 1964;Scherzer & Ekroll, 2015;Shimojo & Nakayama, 1990).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

“…Reprinted with permission. Bottom row adapted from Ekroll, De Bruyckere, et al. (2018 , p. 3), used under CC BY.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(2017) . As argued by Ekroll, De Bruyckere, et al. (2018) , magic tricks may be expected to be very hard to debunk even after repeated presentations, if they are based on cognitively impenetrable visual illusions.…”

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confidence: 99%

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The Illusion of Absence in Magic Tricks

2020

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Recently, a curious illusion of absence has been described, where the space behind an occluder is compellingly experienced as empty. This illusion is similar to illusions based on amodal completion in the sense that it refers to occluded portions of a visual scene and informal observations suggest that it may also be largely impervious to conscious knowledge. The aim of the present experiment was to test the hypothesis that the illusion of absence is cognitively impenetrable in the same way as amodal completion. Participants viewed magic tricks based on amodal completion, the illusion of absence, or attentional and reasoning misdirection and tried to infer the secret behind the tricks after one, two, or three presentations. The results show that the tricks based on the illusion of absence are very difficult to debunk, even after repeated presentations. In this regard, they are similar to tricks based on amodal completion but different from tricks based on attentional and reasoning misdirection. The participants also rated how magical they felt the tricks were. Surprisingly, the magic ratings tended to be quite high even in trials where the participants had already discovered the secret behind the trick. This unexpected finding may be taken to suggest that there may be two magical moments in the lifetime of a magic trick: In addition to the magical experience evoked by trick itself, discovering the secret behind the trick may also evoke an experience of impossibility.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

“…Reprinted with permission. Bottom row adapted from Ekroll, De Bruyckere, et al. (2018 , p. 3), used under CC BY.…”

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confidence: 99%

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The Illusion of Absence in Magic Tricks

2020

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“…Note how difficult it is to imagine that the objects are really hidden behind it. Top row adapted from Ekroll, De Bruyckere, Vanwezemael, and Wagemans (2018), used under CC BY. Bottom row adapted from Ekroll et al (2017).…”

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confidence: 99%

A Perceptual Illusion of Empty Space Can Create a Perceptual Illusion of Levitation

et al. 2019

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A recent analysis of magic tricks suggests the existence of a perceptual illusion where the space hidden behind an occluding object is experienced as empty in a strangely compelling way. Here, we show that this illusion of absence is not just a trivial consequence of the lack of retinal stimulation but rather the result of an active process of perceptual construction. The results of a simple experiment show that this perceptual illusion of absence can in turn trigger perceptual processes which generate an immediate perceptual impression of levitation via a percept-percept coupling. This suggests that magical illusions of levitation are partially driven by an immediate perceptual impression of floating in thin air. The perceptual mechanisms underlying the illusion of absence are hitherto unknown, but our results provide support for a potential explanation based on the generic view principle.

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“…Following Barnhart, one of many assumptions used by magic spectators is symmetry, both in static situations and in sequences of actions (Barnhart, 2017). In addition, amodal perception resists repetition very well, unlike the capture and active deviation of attention, whose effectiveness decays very rapidly in successive passes (Ekroll et al, 2018). In magic, concealments based on amodal perception have the advantage that they invoke automatic assumptions of the visual system that are not suspicious, that do not induce the spectator to "rewind" or think about the method behind the effect, they do not contrast with the intended flow of the game.…”

Section: Perceptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the cognitive bases of illusionism

Camı́

Gomez‐Marin

Martı́nez

2020

PeerJ

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Cognitive scientists have paid very little attention to magic as a distinctly human activity capable of creating situations that are considered impossible because they violate expectations and conclude with the apparent transgression of well-established cognitive and natural laws. This illusory experience of the “impossible” entails a very particular cognitive dissonance that is followed by a subjective and complex “magical experience”. Here, from a perspective inspired by visual neuroscience and ecological cognition, we propose a set of seven fundamental cognitive phenomena (from attention and perception to memory and decision-making) plus a previous pre-sensory stage that magicians interfere with during the presentation of their effects. By doing so, and using as an example the deconstruction of a classic trick, we show how magic offers novel and powerful insights to study human cognition. Furthermore, live magic performances afford to do so in tasks that are more ecological and context-dependent than those usually exploited in artificial laboratory settings. We thus believe that some of the mysteries of how the brain works may be trapped in the split realities present in every magic effect.

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Never Repeat the Same Trick Twice—Unless it is Cognitively Impenetrable

Cited by 17 publications

References 42 publications

The Illusion of Absence in Magic Tricks

The Illusion of Absence in Magic Tricks

A Perceptual Illusion of Empty Space Can Create a Perceptual Illusion of Levitation

On the cognitive bases of illusionism

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