Welcome to my temporary website! I am an Assistant Professor at Carthage College, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. This will serve as a place-holder and news feed while I set up a more comprehensive website. (My old website at Northern Arizona University is still live, so you can access older content by directing your browser to http://oak.ucc.nau.edu/asb263/index.html)
News:
March 2018: The newest publication from my lab has just been released by Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics. I'm particularly proud of this piece for a few reasons: 1) It's my first publication related to some issues that have been central to my research program for the last few years, 2) it's my first publication with student co-authors (Mandy Ehlert & Alison Mackey), and 3) the release of this paper roughly coincides with the release of the CBC / Reel Time Images documentary on the Science of Magic that highlights this work! https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13414-018-1497-8
March 2018: The newest publication from my lab has just been released by Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics. I'm particularly proud of this piece for a few reasons: 1) It's my first publication related to some issues that have been central to my research program for the last few years, 2) it's my first publication with student co-authors (Mandy Ehlert & Alison Mackey), and 3) the release of this paper roughly coincides with the release of the CBC / Reel Time Images documentary on the Science of Magic that highlights this work! https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13414-018-1497-8
March 2018: I am pleased to be part of a special episode of the long-running CBC science program, "The Nature of Things," devoted to the Science of Magic. Folks in Canada will be able to watch the episode on March 18th. A teaser is available at http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episodes/the-science-of-magic.
February 2018: At this year's Midwest Institute for Students and Teachers of Psychology (MISTOP) at the College of DuPage, I led a session devoted to using magic in the classroom to enhance critical thinking. I have made all content from that presentation available for educators at http://tinyurl.com/MISTOP-magic.
January 2018: I was interviewed in two episodes of the Cengage "Neuro Transmission Podcast." The first interview relates to my academic trajectory, from magician to psychologist who studies magic. The second explores my use of magic in the classroom as a tool for enhancing students' critical thinking. Both episodes are available at https://www.cengage.com/learn/neurotransmission
January 2018: An interview with me appeared in The Linking Ring magazine, journal of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. You can read the piece here.
October 2017: I appeared on the WGTD Morning Show with Gregory Berg to promote the 3rd annual Carthage College Celebration of Mind. The interview is available at https://www.wgtd.org/playlist/morning-show/morning-show-100517.
August 2017: The Science of Magic Association hosted its second conference at Goldsmith's University of London from August 31-September 1, 2017. More details can be found at http://www.scienceofmagicassoc.org.
August 2017: I will be a featured lecturer and performer at the 2017 Midwest Magicians Conclave in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on August 19th. Register now to experience the lighter side of the science of magic!
July 2017: I am an invited speaker at the 2017 Vancouver International Conference on the Teaching of Psychology (VICTOP). My talk, entitled "Magic In Mind: Viewing Psychology Through the Lens of Performance Magic," will provide an introduction to the modern science of magic movement while supplying educators with some simple techniques for using magic in the classroom. Added bonus: Elizabeth Loftus will be a keynote speaker at the conference! http://www.kpu.ca/victop/keynotes
April 2017: The Magic, Attentional Guidance, and Ichnochirography Lab will be well-represented at this year's meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association. My students will be presenting work on the cognitive consequences of magical expertise, the magical manipulation of temporal attention (a poster that won the Psi Chi Undergraduate Research Award), and the features that drive handwritten word perception. Please drop by their posters and give them a hard time!
December 2016: I made an appearance down under on Nicholas J. Johnson's "Scamapalooza" podcast. Nick and I talked about all sorts of things including the relationship between magic and autism. It was both fun and strange. You can download the podcast at http://www.conman.com.au/melbournemagicians/episode-36-brain-magic-with-tony-barnhart.
September 2016: I'll be presenting some new, unusual data on face perception at the annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society in Boston on November 18th at 6:00pm.
June 2016: I'm pleased to announce the publication of a paper that has been years in the making. In "The Poverty of Embodied Cognition," published in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, my co-authors and I argue that the embodied cognition fad is largely intractable and has little to offer psychological science, in general. http://link.springer.com/article/10.3758%2Fs13423-015-0860-1
June 2016: I was interviewed about magic, cognitive science, and whatever came up organically on the "A Life Well Designed" podcast, with Jonathan Pritchard. Have a listen! http://www.alifewelldesigned.com/alwd-046-tony-barnhart-cognitive-scientist/
May 2016: The annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, in St. Pete Beach, Florida, was chock full o' magic. My contributions included a poster presentation on our work exploring attention and microsaccades (handout here) and a Demo Night presentation on our inattentional blindness paradigm (handout here).
January 2016: I'll be presenting a seminar on the psychology of magic at the annual Houdini Club conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on September 24th, 2016. You can register for the conference at http://www.houdiniclubofwisconsin.com/.
December 2015: I published some new work in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. "Orthographic and phonological neighborhood effects in handwritten word perception" (.pdf available here)
November 2015: I presented some of my newest magic research exploring microsaccades as measures of divided attention at the annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society. The handout for my presentation can be downloaded here.
October 2015: I was interviewed for "The Magic Word," a podcast for magicians and magic aficionados. While I do use some magic lingo, it should be an accessible primer to my research. You can listen to the podcast by directing your browser to http://themagicwordpodcast.com/scottwellsmagic/260-tony-barnhart.
January 2018: I was interviewed in two episodes of the Cengage "Neuro Transmission Podcast." The first interview relates to my academic trajectory, from magician to psychologist who studies magic. The second explores my use of magic in the classroom as a tool for enhancing students' critical thinking. Both episodes are available at https://www.cengage.com/learn/neurotransmission
January 2018: An interview with me appeared in The Linking Ring magazine, journal of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. You can read the piece here.
October 2017: I appeared on the WGTD Morning Show with Gregory Berg to promote the 3rd annual Carthage College Celebration of Mind. The interview is available at https://www.wgtd.org/playlist/morning-show/morning-show-100517.
August 2017: The Science of Magic Association hosted its second conference at Goldsmith's University of London from August 31-September 1, 2017. More details can be found at http://www.scienceofmagicassoc.org.
August 2017: I will be a featured lecturer and performer at the 2017 Midwest Magicians Conclave in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on August 19th. Register now to experience the lighter side of the science of magic!
July 2017: I am an invited speaker at the 2017 Vancouver International Conference on the Teaching of Psychology (VICTOP). My talk, entitled "Magic In Mind: Viewing Psychology Through the Lens of Performance Magic," will provide an introduction to the modern science of magic movement while supplying educators with some simple techniques for using magic in the classroom. Added bonus: Elizabeth Loftus will be a keynote speaker at the conference! http://www.kpu.ca/victop/keynotes
April 2017: The Magic, Attentional Guidance, and Ichnochirography Lab will be well-represented at this year's meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association. My students will be presenting work on the cognitive consequences of magical expertise, the magical manipulation of temporal attention (a poster that won the Psi Chi Undergraduate Research Award), and the features that drive handwritten word perception. Please drop by their posters and give them a hard time!
December 2016: I made an appearance down under on Nicholas J. Johnson's "Scamapalooza" podcast. Nick and I talked about all sorts of things including the relationship between magic and autism. It was both fun and strange. You can download the podcast at http://www.conman.com.au/melbournemagicians/episode-36-brain-magic-with-tony-barnhart.
September 2016: I'll be presenting some new, unusual data on face perception at the annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society in Boston on November 18th at 6:00pm.
June 2016: I'm pleased to announce the publication of a paper that has been years in the making. In "The Poverty of Embodied Cognition," published in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, my co-authors and I argue that the embodied cognition fad is largely intractable and has little to offer psychological science, in general. http://link.springer.com/article/10.3758%2Fs13423-015-0860-1
June 2016: I was interviewed about magic, cognitive science, and whatever came up organically on the "A Life Well Designed" podcast, with Jonathan Pritchard. Have a listen! http://www.alifewelldesigned.com/alwd-046-tony-barnhart-cognitive-scientist/
May 2016: The annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society, in St. Pete Beach, Florida, was chock full o' magic. My contributions included a poster presentation on our work exploring attention and microsaccades (handout here) and a Demo Night presentation on our inattentional blindness paradigm (handout here).
January 2016: I'll be presenting a seminar on the psychology of magic at the annual Houdini Club conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on September 24th, 2016. You can register for the conference at http://www.houdiniclubofwisconsin.com/.
December 2015: I published some new work in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. "Orthographic and phonological neighborhood effects in handwritten word perception" (.pdf available here)
November 2015: I presented some of my newest magic research exploring microsaccades as measures of divided attention at the annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society. The handout for my presentation can be downloaded here.
October 2015: I was interviewed for "The Magic Word," a podcast for magicians and magic aficionados. While I do use some magic lingo, it should be an accessible primer to my research. You can listen to the podcast by directing your browser to http://themagicwordpodcast.com/scottwellsmagic/260-tony-barnhart.
