2. MAGIC WARM-UP
What do you know about magic? How do magicians perform
magic?
How do you feel when watching magic?
Do you believe in magic?
3. MAGIC WARM-UP
Apollo Robbins: Magic of a Pick Pocket
After watching the example, do you believe that the magician has
some sort of special powers? Why?
4. TIPS FROM A PICKPOCKET
How does Apollo use attention to create the sense of magic?
How does this magic show help us better understand the world
around us?
5. LEARNING OUTCOME
I can explain how understanding about Perception and Attention
can change the way I see the world and human behavior.
6. ATTENTION
Attention is the process of selectively concentrating on a discrete
aspect of information while ignoring other objects.
Attention Test
7. ATTENTION & GORILLAS
Aim: To investigate the limits of attention.
Method: Had college students watch a video where they counted the
times a group of students passed a basketball. As this happened, a person
dressed in a gorilla suit walked into the middle of the screen. Researchers
then asked how many people noticed the gorilla.
Findings: Over half of all participants did not see the gorilla enter the
screen.
Conclusion: We have attention spotlights that prevent us from seeing
everything in our surroundings.
8. ATTENTION SPOTLIGHT
We only have a limited amount of attention. When
things occur outside of our focus, we cannot pay
attention to them.
9. CHANGE BLINDNESS
The tendency people have to miss changes in their immediate
visual environment.
Would You Fall For That? Change Blindness
10. COCKTAIL PARTY EFFECT
The ability for people to track one conversation in the face of
other nearby conversations.
• Example: Talking during break/lunch in the commons
11. DRIVING & CELL PHONES:
JUST ET AL (2008)
Aim: To determine how cell phones impact humans ability to
drive.
Method: – Used fMRI to measure brain activity while driving
alone and while driving and making a hands free cell phone call.
Finding: Driving while talking on a phone led to a 37% decrease
in activity in the parietal lobe (responsible for spatial awareness).
Conclusion: We have a limited amount of attention and a
weakness when trying to perform two complex tasks.
12.
13.
14. WHAT IS PERCEPTION?
The process by which the brain organizes and interprets
sensory information.
• Takes in sensory information from our outside world and gives it
meaning.
18. BOTTOM-UP PROCESSING
Data Driven Processing
Processing incoming individual pieces of sensory
data and constructing them into a whole. (Parts
into Whole)
Starting point of perception.
20. BOTTOM-UP PERCEPTION
Lets break it down…
• Thousands of Yellow and Brown Lego Bricks
• Blades of grass
• Fences
• A crowd of people in the background
• Start with a pile of legos at the Bottom (Individual
elements) and you must build them Up (Whole)
23. KENGE DISCUSSION
QUESTIONS
What happened when Kenge left the forest with Dr. Turnbull?
What type of processing (Bottom-Up or Top-Down) is
responsible for this situation?
How does this example better help us understand our perception
of magic?
How can this lesson apply to areas of our lives outside of visual
perception?
24. BRAIN MAGIC
Keith Berry: Brain Magic
Does this magic show violate our top-down or bottom-up
perception?
When we cannot explain a magic trick, what happens?
How is this magic show similar to what happened to Kenge?
25. PERCEPTION MAIN IDEA
We use our understanding about how the world works to help us
make sense of what we are seeing.
If something appears to be impossible, we are
surprised…MAGIC!
26. 10 WAYS TO
TRICK THE BRAIN
1. List the tricks (1-10, 1 being most important), from most to least
important to you as an aspiring Magician.
2. For each item on the list, write a short summary of what lesson we can
learn about the way our minds work. Be sure to include any key terms
from the reading in your summary.
3. Be prepared to explain your choices for your Top 3 most important
lessons.
27. PENN & TELLER: FOOL US
EXAMPLES
Example 1: Crazy Card Tricks
Example 2: Dinner Plates
28. PSYCHOLOGY MAGIC SHOW
Step 1: Choose, plan, learn, and practice your magic trick.
Step 2: Bring all of the supplies you will need to perform your trick to class.
Step 3: Perform your trick for your table group. While you perform, another
person in your group will record your trick on your group’s assigned I-Pad.
Step 4: Vote on the person with the best magic trick in your group. They will
become your group’s representative in the “Fool Bonica” Competition.
Step 5: Complete your Psychology Magic Show Analysis Form.
29. PSYCHOLOGY MAGIC SHOW
RUBRIC
4/Exceeds 3/Meets 2/Nearly Meets 1/Beginning
Trick Performance I performed a trick that
was unique and showed
effort in preparation.
I performed a trick that
showed effort in
preparation.
I performed a simple
trick that showed
limited effort in
preparation.
I performed a very
simple trick that
showed little effort in
preparation.
Understanding of
Attention &
Perception
I provided a detailed
explanation of how my
trick relates to attention
and perception and
how I used these to
perform my trick.
I provided a clear
explanation of how my
trick relates to attention
and perception and
how I used these to
perform my trick.
I provided an limited
explanation of how my
trick relates to attention
and perception and
how I used these to
perform my trick.
I provided a unclear
explanation of how my
trick relates to attention
and perception and
how I used these to
perform my trick.
Connections to
Psychology
I made detailed
connections to
psychological concepts
from class as I
explained my trick
I made specific
connections to
psychological concepts
from class as I
explained my trick
I made limited
connections to
psychological concepts
from class as I
explained my trick
I made unclear
connections to
psychological concepts
from class as I
explained my trick
30. IT’S YOUR TURN
You are going to explore Youtube to find a magic trick to learn
and master. As you do this, you should be able to explain how you
manage to manipulate attention & perception to create the illusion of
magic.
