BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Magic Mind - Professor Nicola Clayton FRS 
DTSTART:20251202T130000Z
DTEND:20251202T140000Z
UID:TALK240928@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Emilio Aldorino
DESCRIPTION:Cognitive illusions reveal a number of fascinating features ab
 out the psychology and biology of the mind\; not just perception but also 
 mental time travel\, the ability to remember the past and anticipate the f
 uture. Magic effects also illuminate some important things about Theory of
  Mind\, the ability to assess the thoughts of others\, both on the part of
  the audience and on the part of the magician. In this talk I will evaluat
 e the extent to which corvids\, known for their impressive cognitive abili
 ties\, exploit such principles in their natural caching behaviour~ i.e.\, 
 their ability to hide food from the prying eyes of their competitors and p
 rotect their caches from being pilfered. I will also investigate whether a
 nd to what extent these birds are fooled by human magic effects. Finally\,
  I will discuss what this approach might reveal about the intersection bet
 ween the ability to manually produce an action\, and the ability to antici
 pate the actions of others: for sleight of hand magic capitalises on the o
 bserver’s predictions of specific manual movements\, particularly those 
 of the hands. 
LOCATION:Zoom or in-person at Sainsbury Laboratory\, 47 Bateman St\, Cambr
 idge CB2 1LR
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR