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A folk taxonomy of magic.

Gustav Kuhn1, Cyril Thomas2, Thomas L Griffiths3

  • 1School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, UK.

Cognition
|June 13, 2026
PubMed
Summary

This study introduces a new way to classify magic tricks based on observable effects and attributed causes. It reveals how people psychologically organize magical illusions, validating some magician distinctions and uncovering new patterns.

Keywords:
Belief violationCausal reasoningFolk categorizationIntuitive physicsSimilarity judgmentsTaxonomy

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Perception Studies
  • Entertainment Science

Background:

  • Magic tricks challenge perceptions of possibility.
  • Existing classifications of magic rely on expert opinion, not intuitive understanding.
  • Little is known about the psychological relationships between different magical effects.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a psychologically valid, multi-dimensional taxonomy of magic.
  • To systematically describe a wide range of magic tricks.
  • To understand how people cognitively organize magical effects.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a taxonomy based on observable effects and attributed causes.
  • Collected participant judgments on the similarity between magic tricks.
  • Constructed a dendrogram from similarity data to reveal hierarchical structure.

Main Results:

  • The new taxonomy systematically describes a vast majority of known magical effects.
  • Participant similarity judgments revealed a hierarchical cognitive organization of magic.
  • Findings corroborated traditional distinctions (e.g., mental vs. physical effects) and identified new perceptual patterns.

Conclusions:

  • The proposed taxonomy offers a psychologically grounded framework for understanding magic.
  • This research provides novel insights into the cognitive categorization of magical impossibilities.
  • The study bridges expert magician classifications with laypeople's intuitive understanding of magic.