Just as vision scientists study visual art and illusions to elucidate the workings of the visual system, so too can cognitive scientists study cognitive illusions to elucidate the underpinnings of cognition. Magic shows are a manifestation of accomplished magic performers’ deep intuition for and understanding of human attention and awareness. By studying magicians and their techniques, neuroscientists can learn powerful methods to manipulate attention and awareness in the laboratory. Such methods could be exploited to directly study the behavioral and neural basis of consciousness itself, for instance through the use of brain imaging and other neural recording techniques.

**Table 1**: Types of conjuring effects. [We adopt Lamont & Wiseman 199’s classification [*Magic in Theory*] of conjuring or magic effects into 9 main categories.]
Magic effects	Examples	Methodological strategies
Appearance: an object appears ‘as if by magic’	Pulling a rabbit out of a hat; the Miser’s Dream (in which hundreds of coins seem to appear where previously there were none)^{75, 94} (Box 2; Supplementary information S2 (movie)); Mac King’s giant rock in a shoe trick^{75, 87} (Supplementary information S3 (movie))	The object was already there but was concealed (for example, the magician might conceal a coin in his or her hand prior to its production) The object was secretly put into position (for example, in the Cups and Balls routine, various objects are secretly loaded under the cups during the routine) The object is not there but seems to be (for example, a ‘medium’ can simulate the presence of a spirit at a seance by secretly touching a spectator)
Vanish: an object disappears ‘as if by magic’	Vanishing of a coin; Penn & Teller’s underwater vanishing of a naval submarine; David Copperfield’s vanishing of the Statue of Liberty.	The object was not really where it appeared to be to begin with (for example, the magician fakes a transfer of a coin from the left hand to the right hand, then shows that the coin ‘disappeared’ from the right) The object has been secretly removed (for example, the magician uses a secret device, called a gimmick, to pull an object into his sleeve) The object is still there but is concealed (a coin can seem to vanish from the magician’s hand although in reality it is merely concealed)
Transposition: an object changes position in space from position A to position B	Houdini’s Metamorphosis (in which 2 people change places between locked boxes); Penn & Teller’s Hanging Man trick (in which Penn is apparently hanged to death, only to be found safe and sound in the audience)	The object seemed to be at A, but actually was already at B (for example, the magician fakes the transfer of a coin from the right to the left hand, then pretends to transfer the coin magically from left to right) The object is still at A but seems to be at B (for example, the magician fakes a coin transfer from the left hand to the right and then, when revealing the coin by dropping it, uses sleight of hand to give the impression that it was dropped from the right hand) The object was secretly moved from A to B (for example, a coin in the left hand is secretly transferred to the right hand and then is revealed there) A duplicate object is used (for example, both hands hold identical coins that are revealed at different times to simulate a transfer)
Restoration: an object is damaged and then restored to its original condition.	Cutting and restoring a rope; sawing an assistant in half; tearing and restoring a newspaper; breaking and restoring rubber bands	The object was not really damaged The object was not really restored A duplicate is used
Penetration: matter seems to magically move through matter	Chinese Linking Rings (metal rings that link and unlink magically); Houdini’s Walking Through A Wall trick; Coins Through The Table [or the Vanishing Bird Cage trick, fictionalized in an extreme way by The Prestige]	Penetrations combine the techniques used in the transposition and restoration categories
Transformation: an object changes form (size, color, shape, weight, etc.)	Colour-Changing Card Trick; Spellbound (in which a coin turns into a different coin); the Professor’s Nightmare (in which 3 ropes of different length are made equal in length)	Transformations can be seen as the vanishing of object A combined with the appearance of object B: Object A was secretly switched with object B Object B was always present but was initially disguised as object A Object A is disguised as object B at the point of ‘transformation’
Extraordinary feats (including mental and physical feats)	Extraordinary memory (remembering the names of all the audience members); extraordinary calculation (reporting the result of multiplying randomly selected 4-digit numbers); extraordinary strength; invulnerability (specific examples: walking on hot coals; Penn & Teller’s bullet-catching trick)	Might rely on relatively obscure scientific knowledge (such as mathematical or physiological knowledge). For example, walking on hot coals is harmless when performed correctly
Telekinesis: ‘magical’ levitation or animation of an object	Levitation; spoon bending	The action is caused by an external force (for example, an invisible thread) The action is caused by an internal force (elasticity, chemical reaction, magnetism, etc.) The action did not actually occur (for example, a spoon bender can convince a spectator that a stationary spoon is still bending)
Extrasensory perception (ESP; including clairvoyance, telepathy, precognition, mental control, etc.)	Clairvoyance (acquiring information that is not known to others through ESP); telepathy (acquiring information that is known to others through ESP); precognition (acquiring information from the future); mental control (the performer influences the selection process of another person)	Controlling a spectator’s choices to give the illusion of free will Discovering hidden information (for example, reading information that has been sealed in an envelope, fishing for or pumping information from a spectator, cold reading, etc.) Revealing apparent proof that information announced by the spectator was previously known by the magician (for example, by writing the announcement on paper and using sleight of hand to make the paper seem to come out of an envelope that was sealed before the announcement)

Table 1: Types of conjuring effects. [We adopt Lamont & Wiseman 199’s classification [Magic in Theory] of conjuring or magic effects into 9 main categories.]

Appearance: an object appears ‘as if by magic’

Pulling a rabbit out of a hat; the Miser’s Dream (in which hundreds of coins seem to appear where previously there were none)^{75, 94} (Box 2; Supplementary information S2 (movie)); Mac King’s giant rock in a shoe trick^{75, 87} (Supplementary information S3 (movie))

The object was already there but was concealed (for example, the magician might conceal a coin in his or her hand prior to its production)
The object was secretly put into position (for example, in the Cups and Balls routine, various objects are secretly loaded under the cups during the routine)
The object is not there but seems to be (for example, a ‘medium’ can simulate the presence of a spirit at a seance by secretly touching a spectator)

Vanish: an object disappears ‘as if by magic’

Vanishing of a coin; Penn & Teller’s underwater vanishing of a naval submarine; David Copperfield’s vanishing of the Statue of Liberty.

The object was not really where it appeared to be to begin with (for example, the magician fakes a transfer of a coin from the left hand to the right hand, then shows that the coin ‘disappeared’ from the right)
The object has been secretly removed (for example, the magician uses a secret device, called a gimmick, to pull an object into his sleeve)
The object is still there but is concealed (a coin can seem to vanish from the magician’s hand although in reality it is merely concealed)

Transposition: an object changes position in space from position A to position B

Houdini’s Metamorphosis (in which 2 people change places between locked boxes); Penn & Teller’s Hanging Man trick (in which Penn is apparently hanged to death, only to be found safe and sound in the audience)

The object seemed to be at A, but actually was already at B (for example, the magician fakes the transfer of a coin from the right to the left hand, then pretends to transfer the coin magically from left to right)
The object is still at A but seems to be at B (for example, the magician fakes a coin transfer from the left hand to the right and then, when revealing the coin by dropping it, uses sleight of hand to give the impression that it was dropped from the right hand)
The object was secretly moved from A to B (for example, a coin in the left hand is secretly transferred to the right hand and then is revealed there)
A duplicate object is used (for example, both hands hold identical coins that are revealed at different times to simulate a transfer)

Restoration: an object is damaged and then restored to its original condition.

Cutting and restoring a rope; sawing an assistant in half; tearing and restoring a newspaper; breaking and restoring rubber bands

The object was not really damaged
The object was not really restored
A duplicate is used

Penetration: matter seems to magically move through matter

Chinese Linking Rings (metal rings that link and unlink magically); Houdini’s Walking Through A Wall trick; Coins Through The Table [or the Vanishing Bird Cage trick, fictionalized in an extreme way by The Prestige]

Penetrations combine the techniques used in the transposition and restoration categories

Transformation: an object changes form (size, color, shape, weight, etc.)

Colour-Changing Card Trick; Spellbound (in which a coin turns into a different coin); the Professor’s Nightmare (in which 3 ropes of different length are made equal in length)

Transformations can be seen as the vanishing of object A combined with the appearance of object B:

Object A was secretly switched with object B
Object B was always present but was initially disguised as object A
Object A is disguised as object B at the point of ‘transformation’

Extraordinary feats (including mental and physical feats)

Extraordinary memory (remembering the names of all the audience members); extraordinary calculation (reporting the result of multiplying randomly selected 4-digit numbers); extraordinary strength; invulnerability (specific examples: walking on hot coals; Penn & Teller’s bullet-catching trick)

Might rely on relatively obscure scientific knowledge (such as mathematical or physiological knowledge). For example, walking on hot coals is harmless when performed correctly

Telekinesis: ‘magical’ levitation or animation of an object

Levitation; spoon bending

The action is caused by an external force (for example, an invisible thread)
The action is caused by an internal force (elasticity, chemical reaction, magnetism, etc.)
The action did not actually occur (for example, a spoon bender can convince a spectator that a stationary spoon is still bending)

Extrasensory perception (ESP; including clairvoyance, telepathy, precognition, mental control, etc.)

Clairvoyance (acquiring information that is not known to others through ESP); telepathy (acquiring information that is known to others through ESP); precognition (acquiring information from the future); mental control (the performer influences the selection process of another person)

Controlling a spectator’s choices to give the illusion of free will
Discovering hidden information (for example, reading information that has been sealed in an envelope, fishing for or pumping information from a spectator, cold reading, etc.)
Revealing apparent proof that information announced by the spectator was previously known by the magician (for example, by writing the announcement on paper and using sleight of hand to make the paper seem to come out of an envelope that was sealed before the announcement)

there is 1 object
there is only 1 object
there is the same number of objects
each is the same object
the object was where you originally saw it
the object is where you see it now
the object was inside the container
the object was outside the container
the object moved at all
the object changed at all
you see the object when you look at it
you see what you look at
there is only 1 trick]