Welcome! I am an Associate Professor and Chair of Psychological Science at Carthage College, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
News:
August 2020: I am honored to be featured as a "Thought Leader" at the 2020 convention of the American Psychological Association. My keynote address, entitled "Magic in the Lab: Psychological Insights from Magicians," will be a call to action for psychologists to seriously consider hypotheses from the folk psychology of magic.
February 2020: With my colleagues, Leslie Cameron and Arryn Robbins, I presented a workshop on enhancing the pedagogical value of Sensation & Perception demonstrations at the Midwest Institute for Students and Teachers of Psychology at the College of DuPage. We have made all of the materials from that presentation (and more!) available at http://bit.ly/MISTOP-WorkshopWednesdays.
July 2019: The 2019 Science of Magic Association conference, for which I was conference chair, was a rousing success. The complete program from the event is available at https://scienceofmagicassoc.org/. Five of my students accompanied me to the conference, where they presented their work, carried out in my lab. I presented a workshop on using magic in the classroom to increase critical thinking. The materials from my presentation are available for download here. A gallery of images featuring me and my students appears below.
July 2019: The 2019 Science of Magic Association conference, for which I was conference chair, was a rousing success. The complete program from the event is available at https://scienceofmagicassoc.org/. Five of my students accompanied me to the conference, where they presented their work, carried out in my lab. I presented a workshop on using magic in the classroom to increase critical thinking. The materials from my presentation are available for download here. A gallery of images featuring me and my students appears below.
June 2019: My newest paper, with collaborators from Harvard Medical School, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and Arizona State University, was published in the Journal of Eye Movement Research. The work explores the relationship between microsaccades and covert attention. Since its publication, it has already been featured on the Scientific American website. The paper and supplementary materials are published in open access at https://bop.unibe.ch/JEMR/article/view/4333-Barnhartetal-Article.pdf
May 2019: I presented a poster and a Demo Night presentation at the 2019 meeting of the Vision Sciences Society. Files associated with my poster presentation on symmetry and event perception are available here, and files associated with my demo on the magical manipulation of temporal attention are available here.
April 2019: The MAGI Lab will be well represented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association. Students in my lab will present three posters in the Psi Chi sessions, and I will be speaking in and moderating the Cognitive & Visual Attention session on Thursday morning at 11:15am.
February 2019: Four of my colleagues and I spoke at the Midwest Institute for Students and Teachers of Psychology (MISTOP) on the benefits and challenges of team-teaching Introductory Psychology. We have made all of our materials available here for those who are interested in improving their introductory courses through a team-based design.
January 2019: At the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology (NITOP), I provided educators with a magical tool they could use to encourage critical thinking in the classroom. All of the materials from my "Demo Demo" are available for download here.
November 2018: I presented some of my new work on the use of symmetrical action as a technique of deception in magic at the annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society in New Orleans. The poster and handout for that presentation are available for download here.
September 2018: Congratulations to Jeniffer Ortega, a Ph.D. student at the National University of Colombia, on the publication of some of her dissertation research in Consciousness and Cognition, alongside Gustav Kuhn and me. This is some of the first work using magic to study visual metacognition. https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1Xf4P3lcz3pJPr
April 2019: The MAGI Lab will be well represented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association. Students in my lab will present three posters in the Psi Chi sessions, and I will be speaking in and moderating the Cognitive & Visual Attention session on Thursday morning at 11:15am.
February 2019: Four of my colleagues and I spoke at the Midwest Institute for Students and Teachers of Psychology (MISTOP) on the benefits and challenges of team-teaching Introductory Psychology. We have made all of our materials available here for those who are interested in improving their introductory courses through a team-based design.
January 2019: At the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology (NITOP), I provided educators with a magical tool they could use to encourage critical thinking in the classroom. All of the materials from my "Demo Demo" are available for download here.
November 2018: I presented some of my new work on the use of symmetrical action as a technique of deception in magic at the annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society in New Orleans. The poster and handout for that presentation are available for download here.
September 2018: Congratulations to Jeniffer Ortega, a Ph.D. student at the National University of Colombia, on the publication of some of her dissertation research in Consciousness and Cognition, alongside Gustav Kuhn and me. This is some of the first work using magic to study visual metacognition. https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1Xf4P3lcz3pJPr
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!
January 2017: I was interviewed on Joe Diamond's "Unreal Radio" show. You can listen to the interview at http://www.carisahendrix.com/podcast/unreal-radio-16-a-talk-with-dr-anthony-barnhart-about-magic-psychology-and-cognitive-science/
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!
January 2017: I was interviewed on Joe Diamond's "Unreal Radio" show. You can listen to the interview at http://www.carisahendrix.com/podcast/unreal-radio-16-a-talk-with-dr-anthony-barnhart-about-magic-psychology-and-cognitive-science/
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.
