Now You See It, Now You Don’t: The Psychology of Magic, an Illustrated Lecture with Robert Teszka

Date: Thursday, July 2nd
Time: 8pm
Admission: $8 ( Tickets Here )
Location: Morbid Anatomy Museum, 424 Third Avenue, 11215 Brooklyn

Magicians have the uncanny ability to manipulate how people perceive the world, and this can be the key to understanding how the mind works. The techniques of misdirection provide a useful framework for studying attention and its link to eye movements, and magical methods are a valuable tool for designing research. Magic and illusions were central to the birth of experimental psychology at the turn of the last century, but fell out of fashion until modern techniques and magician-scientists rediscovered it. Magicians have spent hundreds of years developing techniques that keep audiences from being aware of events happening right in front of their noses. In this talk, Robert discusses how these effects are studied experimentally, and what the findings of magic research mean for the psychology of attention and awareness.

Robert Teszka is a cognitive psychology researcher, science promoter, and consultant, as well as a member of the Magic Circle in London. His research uses the techniques of conjurors to understand how people perceive their environment, make decisions, and interact with each other. Robert has given talks on some of the more surprising findings in psychology for CFI Vancouver & London, Neuroscience Week in Barcelona, and the Market Research Society. He was worked as a consultant on magic, games, and other psychological topics for creative and market research agencies in New York and England. Robert’s captivating talks inform the audience about how our own minds deceive us as readily as any magician, and how magician’s tricks can help us understand our minds a bit better. Expect a curated collection of demonstrations, experiments, and original research-and perhaps a magic trick or two-as Robert attempts to convince you that sometimes, you just can’t trust your own mind.