Back Idiomotoriese effek Afrikaans ظاهرة فكرية حركية Arabic Carpenter-Effekt German Ideomotora efiko Esperanto Efecto ideomotor Spanish Effet idéomoteur French האפקט האידיאומוטורי HE Effetto ideomotorio Italian Ideomotorisch effect Dutch Zjawisko ideomotoryczne Polish

Ideomotor phenomenon

An example of table-turning in 19th century France. A circle of participants press their hands against a table, and the ideomotor effect causes the table to tilt in such a way as to produce a written message, in a manner similar to a ouija board.[1]
Faraday's apparatus for experimental demonstration of ideomotor effect on table-turning

The ideomotor phenomenon is a psychological phenomenon wherein a subject makes motions unconsciously. Also called ideomotor response (or ideomotor reflex) and abbreviated to IMR, it is a concept in hypnosis and psychological research.[2] It is derived from the terms "ideo" (idea, or mental representation) and "motor" (muscular action). The phrase is most commonly used in reference to the process whereby a thought or mental image brings about a seemingly "reflexive" or automatic muscular reaction, often of minuscule degree, and potentially outside of the awareness of the subject. As in responses to pain, the body sometimes reacts reflexively with an ideomotor effect to ideas alone without the person consciously deciding to take action. The effects of automatic writing, dowsing, facilitated communication,[3] applied kinesiology, and ouija boards have been attributed to the phenomenon.[4][5]

The associated term "ideo-dynamic response" (or "reflex") applies to a wider domain, and extends to the description of all bodily reactions (including ideo-motor and ideo-sensory responses) caused in a similar manner by certain ideas, e.g., the salivation often caused by imagining sucking a lemon, which is a secretory response. The notion of an ideo-dynamic response contributed to James Braid's first neuropsychological explanation of the principle through which suggestion operated in hypnotism.

  1. ^ Geoghegan, Bernard Dionysius (2016-06-01). "Mind the Gap: Spiritualism and the Infrastructural Uncanny". Critical Inquiry. 42 (4): 899–922. doi:10.1086/686945. ISSN 0093-1896. S2CID 163534340.
  2. ^ Shin, Yun Kyoung (2010). "A review of contemporary ideomotor theory". Psychological Bulletin. 136 (6). American Psychological Association: 943–974. doi:10.1037/a0020541. PMID 20822210.
  3. ^ Burgess, Cheryl A.; Kirsch, Irving; Shane, Howard; Niederauer, Kristen L.; Graham, Steven M.; Bacon, Alyson (1998). "Facilitated Communication as an Ideomotor Response". Psychological Science. 9: 71–74. doi:10.1111/1467-9280.00013. S2CID 145631775.
  4. ^ Heap, Michael. (2002). Ideomotor Effect (the Ouija Board Effect). In Michael Shermer. The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience. ABC-CLIO. pp. 127–129. ISBN 1-57607-654-7
  5. ^ Andersen, Marc; Nielbo, Kristoffer L.; Schjoedt, Uffe; Pfeiffer, Thies; Roepstorff, Andreas; Sørensen, Jesper (2018-07-17). "Predictive minds in Ouija board sessions" (PDF). Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. 18 (3): 577–588. doi:10.1007/s11097-018-9585-8. ISSN 1572-8676.

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