Anthony Barnhart

Anthony "Tony" Barnhart is an Associate Professor of Psychological Science at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He previously served as a Lecturer at Northern Arizona University from August 2013 to May 2015. His academic journey began with a Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from Arizona State University in 2013, where he initially focused on language research before expanding into the cognitive science of magic.

Dr. Barnhart's educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from Arizona State University (2013)

Dr. Barnhart's research uniquely bridges cognitive psychology and the art of magic. As a cognitive scientist and professional magician with over 30 years of performing experience, he examines how magicians function as informal cognitive scientists with hypotheses about the mind that can be empirically tested. His primary academic work focuses on handwritten word perception, a domain largely ignored by traditional psychologists. He also introduces magical methodologies into laboratory settings to increase the ecological validity of experimental studies on attention and perception. His interdisciplinary approach combines cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and performance arts to explore human perception boundaries.

His extensive publication record shows a clear progression from traditional cognitive psychology toward the cognitive science of magic, with seminal works including "The exploitation of Gestalt principles by magicians" (2010), "Blinded by magic: eye-movements reveal the misdirection of attention" (2014), and "Microsaccades reflect the dynamics of misdirected attention in magic" (2019). Recent publications increasingly focus on how experiencing and performing magic affects creativity, positive emotions, and wellbeing.

Dr. Barnhart has made significant academic contributions through his editorial work at PeerJ, where he has served as both Editor (4,610 contributions) and Reviewer (155 contributions) across multiple subject areas including Psychiatry and Psychology, Neuroscience, and Human-Computer Interaction. His editorial service demonstrates a commitment to advancing knowledge across disciplines.

As both scholar and performer, Dr. Barnhart has developed a distinctive research program examining the cognitive mechanisms underlying magical illusions. His work demonstrates how eye movement research can uncover the mechanisms of magical deception and how magicians' practical knowledge can inform laboratory research. He maintains an active research profile with consistent publication output across multiple journals, showing particular expertise in experimental design, eye-tracking methodology, and the cognitive mechanisms of attention and perception.