优享文档burstingthemagicbubble译文文档格式.docx

优享文档burstingthemagicbubble译文文档格式.docx

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saysRichardWiseman,aprofessorofpsychologyatHertfordshireUniversity."

Whatyou'

relookingatwhenyouseeafinishedpieceofmagicisagreatdealofexpertise,andIthinkpsychologistshavealottolearnfromthat."

But,notcontentwithjustenjoyingthetricks,psychologistsarenowusingtheireffectsonthemindtoworkouthowwehandlethefloodsofsensoryinformationcomingintoourbrainsandprocessitintoamentalpictureoftheworldaroundus.Magicisadeception,adisruptionofthatorderlymentalpicturewherethingsseemtofloatinmid-airorcoinsandcardsvanishinfrontofoureyes.Scientistsnowbelievethat,bymappingouthowourbrainsaredeceived,theycouldevenhelptounlocksomeofthemysteriesofconsciousnessitself.

Overthelastfiveyears,there'

sbeenareawakeningaswelookatthingslikechangeblindness[afailuretoseelargechangesinavisualscene]andatthefactthatconsciousnessisaconstructionandmayevenbeanillusion,"

saysWiseman,himselfanaccomplishedmagicianandmemberoftheMagicCircle."

Nowthere'

sarecognitionthatmagiciansaredoingsomethingveryspecial."

Someofthefoundersofmodernpsychologywerefascinatedbymagicians:

throughoutthe1890s,AlfredBinet,inventorofthemodernIQtest,andMaxDessoirwroteaboutthewaysinwhichmagiciansusedsuggestionandmisdirectedattentiontogettheirillusionstowork.In1896,JosephJastrowpublishedarticlesinScienceonthemechanicsofsometricksbycontemporarymastermagicians.But,asidefromdescribingwhatthemagiciansweredoing,theywereatalosstoexplainwhymagictrickshadtheeffectstheydidontheaudience.Asaresult,interestinstudyingthepsychologyofmagicfadedfornearlyacentury.

But,asWisemansays,arenaissanceisnowinfullswing.

Magicisallaboutconvincingothersthattheimpossiblehasjusthappened.Andthatdeceptionisachievedwithahighdegreeofskillandshowmanship.

We'

restartingtorealisethatmagicianshavealotofimplicitknowledgeabouthowweperceivetheworldaroundusbecausetheyhavetodeceiveusintermsofcontrollingattention,exploitingtheassumptionswemakewhenwedoanddon'

tnoticeachangeinourenvironment,"

saysWiseman."

Thereisanenormousamountofreallydetailedinstructiononhowtoperformmagic.Peoplearealwaysblownawaybyhowdetailedadescriptionyou'

llhave."

Acardtrickthatlastsfourorfiveminutes,forexample,mighthave20pagesofdetailedtexttodescribeexactlywheretolook,whattosay,whattodoandsoon.Andalotoftheunderstandingofatrickhastobefromtheperspectiveoftheaudience.

Whilethemagician'

sdexterityisimportant,theaudienceisalsoavitalparticipantinthedeception.Afterall,itisintheirmindsthattheillusioniscreated."

Magiciansseemtobeabletocarryoutsecretactionsinfrontoftheiraudiencewithoutbeingspotted.I'

minterestedinwhypeopledon'

tperceivethoseactions,"

saysGustavKuhn,apsychologistatDurhamUniversity.

Asimpleexampleofmisdirectionisusedinthecoindroptrick."

redoingthereispretendingtotakethecoinfromonehandtotheotherbut,infact,leavingitintheoriginalhand,"

What'

simportantisthatyou'

relookingwhereyouwanttheaudiencetolook.You'

renotlookingatthecoin,you'

relookingattheemptyhand.Intermsofmovement,you'

removingthehandthatdoesn'

tcontainthecointoattractpeople'

sattentionovertothathand."

Anothertrick,whereamagicianpretendstothrowaballupintheair,takesthemisdirectionastepfurther."

Peopleoftenexperiencetheballmovingupintheaireventhoughthereisnoballpresent,"

saysKuhn.Theyclaimtoseeaballmovingbutobviouslyit'

snottheresoitmustbeintheirmind."

Psychologistscanusethesetrickstocatchaglimpseintohowourmindsinterprettheworldaroundus.

Magiciansaremanipulatingyourconsciousness.Theyareshowingyousomethingimpossible,"

They'

regettingyoutoconstructanarrative,whichsimplyisn'

ttrue.Sothatmeanstheyknowhowtomakeyouawareofcertainthingsandblindtootherthings.WhatI'

mhopingisthatmagic,thisentertainmentvehiclethathasbeenaroundforalongtime,willgiveusarealinsightintothedeepmysteriesofconsciousness."

Ourbrainsfilteroutahugeamountofthemassofsensoryinputfloodinginfromourenvironment.Kuhnexplainsthatweseewhatweexpecttoseeandwhatourbrainsareinterestedin."

Ourvisualrepresentationoftheworldismuchmoreimpoverishedthanwewouldassume.Peoplecanbelookingatsomethingwithoutbeingawareofit.Perceptiondoesn'

tjustinvolvelookingatanobjectbutattendingtoit."

InKuhn'

srecentwork,heperformedatrickwhereacigaretteseemstodisappear.Itinvolvednosleightofhandorsecret.Itwasasimplecaseofdroppingthecigaretteintohislap."

Ithappensrightinfrontofthespectator'

seyesbutImisdirecttheirattentionawayfromthecigarette,"

saysKuhn.

Whilehisspectatorswatched,theyworeeyetrackers（essentiallyacoupleofcamerasthatmonitoreyemovementandprovideanexactlocationofwhereapersonislookinginascene）.

Itisknownthatweonlyreceivehigh-qualityinformationfromtheareawearefixatedon,rightinthecentreofourfieldofview.Ifyoustretchoutyourarm,itisabouttwothumbs'

widthatthecentreofyourvision-everythingelseisprettymuchblurred.Thewaywecompensateforthisistomoveoureyesaroundtofillinthegapsandcreateabetterpictureoftheworldaroundus.

Kuhn'

sresults,tobepublishedinthejournalPerceptioninthenextfewmonths,showedthatsimplystaringatthelocationofthedeceptionwasnotenoughforpeopletodiscoverhowthetrickhappened.

Peoplecouldbelookingveryclosetowherethecigarettewasbeingdroppedwithoutevenseeingit,"

hesays."

Otherpeoplewerelookingquitefarawaybuttheydidactuallydidspotthecigarette."

Whatitshowsisjusthowmuchofthepictureinourheadofoursurroundingsisamassiveconstruction,basedonexpectations,whatwethinkisimportant,whatwenormallyencounterandsoon,"

Andthat'

swhatmagiciansareverygoodatexploiting."

Misdirectionofanaudience,therefore,dependsonmorethanjustmakingpeoplelookthewrongway-thetrulysuccessfulmagicianmisdirectsattention.Often,attentionisfocusedonwhereapersonislooking,butthiscanbemanipulated."

Youmightbelookingatasceneandthenyouhearavoicefromthebacksoyourattentionismovedtowardsthebackandyourprocessingofvisualinformationwillbeimpairedatthefront,"

Verbalsuggestioncanalsoplayabigroleinmisdirection.Inarecentstudy,Wisemanlookedathowtheclassicmetal-bendingtricks,employedbymagicianstheworldoverandperhapsmademostfamousbyUriGeller,usedverbalcues.Inhisexperiment,heshowedagroupofstudentsavideoofatrickwhereamagicianbendsakey,apparentlyusinghispsychokineticability（infact,thebendingwasdonebysleightofhand）.Themagicianthenplacedthekeyonatableandthevideoendedwithastaticshotofthebentkey,whichdidnotbendanyfurther.Butavoiceoverfromthemagicianatthisstagesuggestedthatthekeywasindeedcontinuingtobend.

Theresults,publishedthisyearintheBritishJournalofPsychology,showedthat40%ofpeopleclaimedtoseethekeycontinuingtobendduringthestaticshotattheendofthevideo.Inthecontrolgroup,wheretherewasnovoiceoverfromthemagician,only5%reportedthattheysawthekeycontinuingtobend.

Ofcourse,suggestioncantakeotherforms.

Withtheballexperiment,wediscoveredthatpeoplearen'

tjustlookingupattheball,they'

relookingatfacialcluestojudgewheretheballisgoingtoendup,"

saysKuhn."

Ifthemagiciandoesn'

tlookupintheair,thetrickdoesn'

twork.Peoplefeelthatthey'

rewatchingtheballbutwhattheyaredoingismonitoringthemagician'

sfaceandcuesandusingthatinformationtoguidetheireyemovements."

Thisleadstoaninterestingidea-couldsomepeoplebeimmunetosomeoftheeffectsofmagic?

Peoplewhosufferfromautism,forexample,tendtohavedifficultiesgaugingfacialcues,sotheirattentionislessinfluencedbywheresomebodyislooking."

You'

dexpectthatsomebodywhosufferedfromautismwouldbemorelikelytospotthecigarettetrick,"

agreesKuhn.

Thenextstepistolookatthebraindirectly.WorkingwithpsychologistsTimHodsonandBenParrisatExeterUniversity'

sCentreforCognitiveNeuroscience,Kuhnplanstoputpeopleinfunctionalmagneticresonanceimagingmachinestostudywhichpartsofthebrainactivatewhentheywatchmagictricks.

reveryinterestedinthepartofthebrainthatdetectscauseandeffectrelations,"

saysParris.

Inparticular,theexperimentswillmonitorthedorsallateralpre-frontalcortex,whichisknowntobethebitofthebrainthatregisterssurprise,andtheanteriorcingulate,whichisactivatedwheneversomethingincongruoushappensinourimmediateenvironment.

Ofcourse,magicismorethanjustsurprise,sotheresearcherswillbelookingforsomethingmore."

Whenyou'

rewatchingmagic,thereisjustasplitsecondwhenyou'

reindisbelie