Anthony Barnhart, Ph.D. is a teacher-scholar who aims to inspire intellectual curiosity, nurture skeptical inquiry, and promote rigorous science through his teaching, laboratory research, and public speaking.
News from Prof. Barnhart and the MAGI Lab:
BBS: Pay Attention to Eye Movement Behavior
Hayward Godwin, Michael Hout, and I have written a response to a provocative piece by Ruth Rosenholtz in Behavioral & Brain Sciences where she argues for an abandonment of the concept of “attention” as an explanatory tool.
We got the band back together! Hayward Godwin, Michael Hout, and I (who previously collaborated on this tutorial on eye movement experiments) have written a response to a provocative piece by Ruth Rosenholtz in Behavioral & Brain Sciences where she argues for an abandonment of the concept of “attention” as an explanatory tool. She suggests that the attention research program is in crisis and that we need a fundamental reset where we avoid invoking attention when trying to understand visual processing. We take aim at one of the fundamental flaws in Rosenholtz’s reasoning. Rosenholtz discounts the utility of examining eye movements. Not only do eye movements carry valuable information for vision scientists, but they can validate attentional explanations for phenomena in visual cognition. We ignore them to our own detriment!
Full reference: Godwin, H. J., Hout, M. C., & Barnhart, A. S. (2025). Pay attention to eye movement behavior. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 48, e141. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X25000275
"Big Five personality traits, curiosity, and exploration in the world’s best magicians"
Napora, W., & Barnhart, A. S. (2025). Big Five personality traits, curiosity, and exploration in the world’s best magicians. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000745
My Polish collaborator, Wojciech Napora, and I have just released the culmination of some of our research exploring the personalities of FISM award-winning magicians. We are proud that the work is being featured in the top-tier journal, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. Wojciech spearheaded this work during the pandemic, when he personally recruited 50 FISM winners to participate...No small feat! https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000745
"Identifying the Boundaries of Magic"
Back during pandemic times, I was awarded a sabbatical from Carthage College. Part of my sabbatical project involved gaining some training in qualitative research methods. This week, I published my very first paper using those methods. The paper, entitled "Identifying the Boundaries of Magic: A Qualitative Study of Expert Magicians" was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Performance Magic. My collaborators, Sarah Tuchel, Gustav Kuhn, Dan Simons, and I set out to understand expert magicians' attitudes about where magic ends and other performance arts begin. Interviewees included: Joe Diamond, Jamy Ian Swiss, Carisa Hendrix, Jeanette Andrews, Tom Stone, and David Parr. Video from the interviews is available on Science of Magic Association website at: https://scienceofmagicassoc.org/blog/2024/7/1/interview-series-on-magic-misdirection
Sarah Tuchel and I presented this work at the 2023 British Society of Aesthetics workshop on the "Art & Aesthetics of Illusion." You can view a video version of that presentation here.
Leap Day Pub: “The Selfish Teacher-Scholar”
Today, InsideHigherEd has published an essay I wrote while reflecting on time management for faculty members during this era of storm and stress in higher education. I firmly believe I have articulated the appropriate mindset for faculty to adopt...especially under current circumstances. I look forward to hearing folks' thoughts on the piece at https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/career-advice/advancing-faculty/2024/02/29/benefits-being-selfish-teacher-scholar-opinion
Educators: I have a presentation on this topic I would be pleased to offer to your faculty group.