5 December 2025

3:25 PM – 4:10 PM

Amphi Grand Kursaal

Cyril Thomas

Cyril Thomas is a lecturer in cognitive psychology at the Université Louis et Marie Pasteur and a member of the Institut Universitaire de France. He devotes his research to the study of perceptual and reasoning biases, using an experimental tool as original as it is fertile: prestidigitation. His innovative work has led to numerous publications in leading scientific journals and international conferences. Alongside his academic career, he has been an illusionist for over twenty years, and enjoys international recognition for his magical creations. In 2025, together with Professor André Didierjean, he published a landmark work with Editions Odile Jacob, in which he reveals the psychological secrets of magicians through numerous scientific experiments conducted in this captivating field.

 How do magicians manipulate our minds?

Prodigious illusions, surprising card tricks, mentalism sessions… What can science teach us about magic tricks? Can we influence a person’s choice without their knowledge? Make them perceive what doesn’t exist? Alter their memories? Behind these feats of prestidigitation lies a fundamental lever: psychology.
In this lecture, two researchers in cognitive psychology will explore, through a series of experimental studies, the flaws in our minds that make us vulnerable to illusions. In particular, they will explain how magicians hijack most of our mental shortcuts in order to amaze us.