![]() Second, developmental psychologists have shown a positive relationship between children’s divergent thinking and their preference for fantasy-orientated play (i.e., play involving magical powers, impossible events, or imaginary companions). Those working with the non-stereotypical targets generated a greater number of more original ideas. The AUT is one of the most widely used measures of divergent thinking, and involves participants attempting to generate alternative uses for everyday objects. Similarly, Gocłowska & Crisp (2013) had participants generate adjectives to describe either a stereotypical target (e.g., a male mechanic) or non-stereotypical target (e.g., a female mechanic), and then complete the Guilford Alternate Uses Test (AUT: Guilford, 1967). Those who had generated the non-stereotypical social categories obtained higher scores. For instance, Vasiljevic & Crisp (2013) asked participants to generate either stereotypical social categories (e.g., ‘poor student’) or non-stereotypical categories (e.g., ‘rich student’), and then complete a test of divergent thinking. The results from several strands of research confirm this notion.įirst, some researchers have examined the effect that disrupting people’s stereotypical thinking about social categorisations has on their divergent thinking. Similarly, any activity that disrupts or disconfirms such schemata will help individuals to generate more novel and original ideas. According to this approach, people perceive and understand the world using mental models (referred to as ‘schemata’), and the reliance on such schemata during problem solving results in the production of more predictable and traditional solutions. ![]() In terms of watching a magic effect, some researchers have explored the impact of experiencing events that violate expectations or appear impossible. Each of these strands of work will be discussed in turn. Magicians refer to this as the ‘method.’ Divergent thinking is usually seen as the ability to create many different solutions to a problem or issue, and several strands of research suggest that such thinking may be enhanced by seeing magic tricks and/or learning the secrets to these tricks. For instance, the performer might explain how the box contained several cleverly placed mirrors that concealed the bowling ball. Magicians refer to this as the ‘effect.’ In the second stage, the performer revealed the secret to the illusion. For instance, a performer might show a box to be empty, wave a magic wand and produce a bowling ball from the box. ![]() In the first stage, the person sees a sequence of events in which their expectations about causation are violated. Learn magic trick how to#Showing someone how to perform a magic trick involves two main stages. The current study builds on this work by examining whether learning to perform magic tricks also enhances children’s divergent thinking. Similar magic-based interventions can also have a positive impact within a pedagogical context, and have been used to promote science education, increase curiosity and heighten critical thinking skills (for a review, see Wiseman & Watt, 2020). Research suggests that learning to perform magic tricks can result in a range of psychological and physical benefits, including improved fine and gross motor movements, enhanced social skills and raised self-esteem (for reviews, see Lam, Lam & Chawla, 2017 Wiseman & Watt, 2018 Bagienski & Kuhn, 2019). The practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed, along with recommendations for future research. In an exploratory aspect of the study, the AUT was re-administered to both groups three weeks later, and yielded no significant differences. Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale and Dweck’s Implicit Theories of Intelligence Scale for Children was also completed after each activity, and participants’ self-esteem scores were higher after the art-based activity than the magic-based activity. As predicted, compared to the art-based activity, the magic-based activity resulted in a significantly greater increase in both AUT Fluency and AUT Originality scores. A group of 10- to 11-year-old children completed Guilford’s Alternate Uses Test both before and after participating in either a magic-based, or art-based, activity. The current study extended this work by examining the impact of learning magic tricks on divergent thinking. ![]() Research suggests that learning to perform magic tricks can promote both physical and psychological wellbeing. ![]()
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