Magic Revealed: Cups Trick Found to Be More Effective Than
5
2/15/13 Magic Revealed: Cups Trick Found to Be More Effective Than Thought: Scientific American www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=magic-revealed-cups-trick-found-to-be-more-effective-than-thought 1/5 Neuroscientists are studying classic "magic" tricks, like the classic "cups and balls" illusion. Image: Flickr/Wahlander This story was originally published by Inside Science News Service . (ISNS) -- Scientists analyzing how magicians Penn & Teller perform one of the oldest known illusions now reveal that some aspects of the magic trick are even more effective at manipulating audiences than the magicians predicted. These findings not only shed light on basic processes such as cognition, but could help advance the art of magic, researchers suggested. In recent years, neuroscientists have increasingly been analyzing magicians' performances to gain insights on the human mind. "We realized that magicians were among the best people at manipulating attention and awareness, far better than scientists," said cognitive neuroscientist Stephen Macknik, director of the laboratory of behavioral neurobiology at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Ariz. "So we've been poaching their techniques, bringing them back to the labs to increase our rate of discovery." The latest magic trick Macknik and his colleagues investigated is the classic cups and balls illusion. Examples ascribed to ancient Roman conjurers date back to 3 B.C., and some claim it goes back further to ancient Egypt . The illusion nowadays commonly involves three upside-down cups and three balls , Latest News Most Read Magic Revealed: Cups Trick Found to Be More Effective Than Thought Neuroscientist Stephen Macknik and colleagues have determined that the famous illusion in which balls seemingly jump from cup to cup manipulates our minds more with distraction than with social cues By Charles Q. Choi and Inside Science News Service Mind & Brain :: News :: February 12, 2013 :: 12 Comments :: Email :: Print More from Scientific American More to Explore 7 Ways to Cultivate Your Creativity [Slide Show] Researchers Home in on Biological Ways to Restore Hearing [Excerpt] The Real Power of Crystals: Attesting to Atoms How Manhattan Got Its Street Grid [Excerpt] Proteins Behind Mad-Cow Disease Also Help Brain to Develop NEWS | 48 minutes ago | 6 Russian Meteor Largest in Century FEATURES | 2 hours ago How Manhattan Got Its Street Grid [Excerpt] NEWS | 3 hours ago Proteins Behind Mad-Cow Disease Also Help Brain to Develop Search ScientificAmerican.com Sign In / Register Subscription Center Subscribe to Print & Tablet » Subscribe to Print » Give a Gift » View the Latest Issue » Blogs Subscribe News & Features Topics Multimedia Education Citizen Science SA Magazine SA Mind Products
Transcript of Magic Revealed: Cups Trick Found to Be More Effective Than
2/15/13 Magic Revealed: Cups Trick Found to Be More Effective Than Thought: Scientific American
www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=magic-revealed-cups-trick-found-to-be-more-effective-than-thought 1/5
Neuroscientists are study ing classic "magic"
tricks, like the classic "cups and balls" illusion.
Image: Flickr/Wahlander
This story was originally published by
Inside Science News Service.
(ISNS) -- Scientists analyzing how magicians
Penn & Teller perform one of the oldest
known illusions now reveal that some
aspects of the magic trick are even more
effective at manipulating audiences than the
magicians predicted.
These findings not only shed light on basic
processes such as cognition, but could help
advance the art of magic, researchers
suggested.
In recent years, neuroscientists have
increasingly been analyzing magicians' performances to gain insights on the human
mind.
"We realized that magicians were among the best people at manipulating attention
and awareness, far better than scientists," said cognitive neuroscientist Stephen
Macknik, director of the laboratory of behavioral neurobiology at the Barrow
Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Ariz. "So we've been poaching their techniques,
bringing them back to the labs to increase our rate of discovery."
The latest magic trick Macknik and his colleagues investigated is the classic cups and
balls illusion. Examples ascribed to ancient Roman conjurers date back to 3 B.C., and
some claim it goes back further to ancient Egypt.
The illusion nowadays commonly involves three upside-down cups and three balls,
Latest News Most Read
Magic Revealed: Cups Trick Found toBe More Effective Than ThoughtNeuroscientist Stephen Macknik and colleagues have determined that the famous illusion in
which balls seemingly jump from cup to cup manipulates our minds more with distraction
than with social cues
By Charles Q. Choi and Inside Science News Service
Mind & Brain :: News :: February 12, 2013 :: 12 Comments :: Email :: Print More from Scientific American
More to Explore
7 Ways to Cultivate Your Creativity [SlideShow]
Researchers Home in on Biological Ways toRestore Hearing [Excerpt]
The Real Power of Crystals: Attesting toAtoms
How Manhattan Got Its Street Grid [Excerpt]
Proteins Behind Mad-Cow Disease Also HelpBrain to Develop
NEWS | 48 minutes ago | 6
Russian Meteor Largest in Century
FEATURES | 2 hours ago
How Manhattan Got Its Street Grid [Excerpt]
NEWS | 3 hours ago
Proteins Behind Mad-Cow Disease Also Help
Brain to Develop
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2/15/13 Magic Revealed: Cups Trick Found to Be More Effective Than Thought: Scientific American
www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=magic-revealed-cups-trick-found-to-be-more-effective-than-thought 2/5
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Magicians can make the balls seemingly jump from cup to cup, disappear from one cup
and appear in another, turn into other items and so on. (The modern swindler's
version is the shell game.)
To learn more about this illusion, the researchers enlisted the aid of the famous duo
Penn & Teller. Seven volunteers watched 10-12-second-long video clips of Teller
performing the illusion in front of a NOVA scienceNOW TV crew at the duo's theater
in Las Vegas.
The balls in the illusion are typically brightly colored, while the cups are usually
opaque. Penn & Teller practice a version with three opaque and then three
transparent cups.
"It's a great act, and the trick still works even with transparent cups, because they're
just that good — people still can't follow all the movements and see how the trick is
done," Macknik said.
"I've seen them do this trick for more than 20 years," said vision scientist Flip Phillips
at Skidmore College, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. "The best part of the whole routine is
that, despite the fact that they are telling you what they are doing — they're showing
you what they're doing — you're still amazed because you just can't fight the
deception."
Teller devised this variation while fiddling with an empty water glass and wadded-up
paper napkins for balls at a Midwestern diner. He turned the glass upside down and
put a paper ball on top, then tilted the glass so that the ball fell into his other hand.
The falling ball was so compelling that it drew his own attention away from his other
hand, which was deftly and secretly loading a second ball under the glass. Teller found
that the sleight happened so quickly he himself did not realize he had loaded the cup.
He surmised he missed it because the falling ball captured his attention.
In the experiments, the volunteers reported when they saw balls get removed from,
or placed under, cups by pressing buttons. The researchers also used cameras pointed
at the eyes of the volunteers to track their gazes.
The researchers found that while the falling ball did draw audience attention, other
aspects of the trick were actually stronger at making the illusion work. For instance,
audiences were fooled more often when the magician attempted to drop a ball that
was stuck to a cup.
"A lot of times the intuitions we have about the way things work aren't the way things
work," said Phillips, who did not take part in this research. "This isn't to put down
Teller — Teller's intuition is good. There is research we did on a famous sleight of hand
known as the French drop where Teller's intuition on how to sell the trick is perfectly
correct."
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2/15/13 Magic Revealed: Cups Trick Found to Be More Effective Than Thought: Scientific American
www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=magic-revealed-cups-trick-found-to-be-more-effective-than-thought 3/5
12 Comments Add Comment
Show All | Jump To: 1-10 | 11-20 | Next View Oldest to Newest
1. PrimevilKneivel
07:24 PM 2/12/13
I don't find anything surprising about this article. Social cues
are a tool but they essentially are a subset of misdirection.
I'm also unsurprised by the commentor who immediately used
this article to push their personal political agenda, as if any
other political party is different. Talk about classic
misdirection.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
2. Grizz
in reply to littleredtop
09:06 PM 2/12/13
Trolls are neither magical nor very clever, it would seem.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
3. Sacrieur
in reply to littleredtop
06:41 AM 2/13/13
Nono, you must be mistaken, the psych ward is on the other
side of the internet.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
4. LarryW
in reply to littleredtop
01:42 PM 2/13/13
No, the real magic is how people who are clearly brain dead
give the illusion of speech.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
5. lambert
03:50 PM 2/13/13
It would indeed be interesting to study con artists, and
whether politicians have learned from their tricks. So I'm with
littleredtop; and commenters yammering "troll" are just part
of the illusion.
See here:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/06/back-obama-the-
cool-self-aware-irony-drenched-con-artist.html
And if links don't come through, Google:
"con man" "trick us" Obama
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
6. chrispy33
in reply to littleredtop
04:41 PM 2/13/13
Sour grapes. Get over it. When Bush was elected I felt the
same way but I didn't troll the internet euining discussions on
an interesting topic.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
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2/15/13 Magic Revealed: Cups Trick Found to Be More Effective Than Thought: Scientific American
www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=magic-revealed-cups-trick-found-to-be-more-effective-than-thought 4/5
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7. Squeedle
05:02 PM 2/13/13
Sorry, no, this is about physical manipulation of objects to
entertain a willing audience. Seizing the comment section and
twisting the thesis of the article to justify preaching and
hyperbole is trolling.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
8. jh443
08:29 PM 2/13/13
"Seven volunteers watched 10-12-second-long video clips..."
It would be nice if these words were linked to this clip having
been posted somewhere, such as YouTube.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
9. OFindsen
in reply to littleredtop
09:13 PM 2/13/13
Can't resist spreading your hate at any opportunity, can you,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
10. OFindsen
in reply to kewl_caver
09:13 PM 2/13/13
Got your tin hat on?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
| Jump To: 1-10 | 11-20 |
2/15/13 Magic Revealed: Cups Trick Found to Be More Effective Than Thought: Scientific American
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