216:"The unwitting translation of thoughts into muscular action is one of the most firmly established facts of psychology. In individuals particularly prone to it, it is responsible for such "occult" phenomena as the movement of a Ouija board, table tipping, and automatic writing. It is the basis of a type of mind reading known in the magic profession as "muscle reading." Someone hides a pin in a room, and the performer finds it quickly by having a spectator take hold of his hand. The spectator thinks he is being led by the magician, but actually the performer permits the spectator to lead him by unconscious muscular tensions. Many famous muscle readers are able to dispense with bodily contact altogether, finding the hidden object merely by observing the reactions of spectators in the room."
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300:"Washington Irving Bishop could drive blindfolded through city streets, guided by the involuntary muscle reactions of a passenger who placed his hand on Bishop. In addition, Bishop could drive to a location anywhere in the city where his passenger had hidden an object and, still through reading his guide's muscle reactions, would locate the object in its hiding place."
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phenomenon, where the audience will be told that by creating physical contact with the subject, a better psychic connection can be formed. In fact, the contact allows the performer to read more subtle reactions in the subject's motor functions that may not be apparent without contact, such as muscle
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Kreskin, one of the most accomplished performers of muscle reading in modern times, can tell a driver where to go in a car while a subject holds his wrist (or vice versa). In one of his books he relates the technique to the children's game within which a hidden object is located by feedback of "hot"
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Performers often instruct the subject to imagine voicing instructions, which presumably amplifies the reactions of the subject, thus promoting the idea that the trick involves genuine thought transference or mind-reading. However the subject who is "thinking directions" has a physical, kinaesthetic
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The technique relies on the assertion that the subject will subconsciously reveal their thoughts through very slight involuntary physical reactions, also known as ideomotor responses. The performer can determine what the subject is thinking by recognising and interpreting those responses. Muscle
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Because muscle reading relies so heavily on the subject's subconscious reactions to their environment and situation, this technique is used commonly when performing stunts dealing with locating objects in an auditorium or on stage, and as such, it can be done 'clean' by the magician skilled in
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noted that "mind-reading is nothing but muscle-reading. In all the cases where the mind-reader is supposed to lead a person to a hidden object, the spectator is guided entirely by an involuntary movement of the subject's muscles." The mentalist
46:, whereby subtle movements made without conscious awareness reflect a physical movement, action or direction which the subject is thinking about. The term "muscle reading" was coined in the 1870s by American neurologist
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Knowledge of muscle reading is a technique that is also reportedly used by poker players to hide their reactions to the game, as well as to read the other players for potential bluffs and/or better hands.
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reaction that guides the performer so that he or she can, for example, locate a specific place on a wall on which to place a pin, without prior knowledge of where the pin should go.
42:. The performer can determine many things about the mental state of a subject by observing subtle, involuntary responses to speech or any other stimuli. It is closely related to the
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had studied the practice of muscle reading from a psychological perspective. She has been described as an expert on the subject of muscle reading.
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Muscle reading is also known by the names of those who have used it in popular performances. The success of one early performer,
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to determine the thoughts or knowledge of a subject, the effect of which tends to be perceived as a form of
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Muscle-Reading: A Method of
Investigating Involuntary Movements and Mental Types
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Technique used by mentalists to determine the thoughts or knowledge of a subject
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The Study of Trance, Muscle-Reading and Allied
Phenomena in Europe and America
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Leaves from
Conjurers' Scrap books: Or, Modern Magicians and Their Works
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34:", "Cumberlandism" or "contact mind reading", is a technique used by
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could drive a carriage blindfolded by muscle reading techniques.
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led to it widely being called
Hellstromism. Performers such as
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have also used muscle reading successfully in their acts.
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http://www.randi.org/encyclopedia/muscle%20reading.html
370:. Chicago: Donohue, Henneberry & Co. pp. 108-127
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202:. (2012 edition, originally published in 1957).
124:reading may be billed by some entertainers as a
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205:Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science
311:Imagery in Psychology: A Reference Guide
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696:Mark Wilson's Complete Course In Magic
332:. Society for the Psychology of Women.
425:http://dict.die.net/muscle%20reading/
379:Automatic Phenomena of Muscle-Reading
50:to describe the actions of mentalist
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256:. Harvard University Press. p. 162.
190:. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 389
279:. Hutchinson & Company. p. 277
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54:, an early proponent of the art.
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232:Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women
188:The Illustrated History of Magic
330:"June Etta Downey (1875-1932)"
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363:Mind-Readers and Their Tricks
292:. Dover Publications. p. 33.
23:An example of muscle reading.
672:The Expert at the Card Table
656:The Discoverie of Witchcraft
688:Thirteen Steps to Mentalism
309:Roeckelein, Jon E. (2004).
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385:The Journal of Philosophy
277:A Modern Mystery Merchant
129:control and heart rate.
103:Washington Irving Bishop
427:- dictionary definition
288:Neher, Andrew. (2011).
737:Hugard's Magic Monthly
208:. Dover Publications.
184:Christopher, Milbourne
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808:Films about magicians
135:reading body language
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401:Psychological Review
854:Midnight ghost show
779:Smoke & Mirrors
431:Marom mor mentalist
313:. Praeger. p. 238.
467:Magic and illusion
96:In 1924, magician
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235:. New York City:
79:Erik Jan Hanussen
64:Stuart Cumberland
30:, also known as "
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629:Misdirection
624:Equivocation
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83:Franz Polgar
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40:mind reading
32:Hellstromism
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723:Abracadabra
715:Periodicals
491:Conventions
419:James Randi
392:June Downey
388:5: 650-658.
374:June Downey
354:. New York.
273:Hertz, Carl
113:June Downey
109:or "cold".
91:Nader Hanna
869:Categories
786:The Sphinx
648:Guidebooks
619:Levitation
612:techniques
610:Tricks and
576:Mathemagic
566:Escapology
551:Children's
535:techniques
481:Assistants
394:. (1909).
376:. (1908).
360:. (1891).
348:. (1882).
275:. (1924).
252:. (2004).
227:Jay, Ricky
186:. (1996).
171:References
98:Carl Hertz
36:mentalists
880:Mentalism
813:Magicians
704:Conjuring
541:Cardistry
119:Technique
68:mentalist
828:Timeline
765:Magigram
744:The Jinx
586:Platform
496:Exposure
229:(1986).
149:See also
842:Related
818:Museums
772:Mahatma
683:(1928–)
545:history
526:Bizarre
474:General
126:psychic
87:Kreskin
58:History
833:Tricks
707:(1992)
699:(1975)
691:(1961)
675:(1902)
667:(1876)
659:(1584)
601:Street
591:Séance
581:Mental
571:Gospel
519:Genres
501:Stores
317:
296:
260:
212:
89:, and
796:Lists
758:Magic
730:Genii
596:Stage
486:Clubs
366:. In
561:Coin
531:Card
315:ISBN
294:ISBN
258:ISBN
210:ISBN
871::
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