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.
^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.
^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.
^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.
^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
The ideomotorphenomenon is a psychological phenomenon wherein a subject makes motions unconsciously. Also called ideomotor response (or ideomotor reflex)...
dowsing devices is generally attributed to random movement, or to the ideomotorphenomenon, a psychological response where a subject makes motions unconsciously...
pencils against the other player's. Like a Ouija board, it uses the ideomotorphenomenon, with players moving the pencils without conscious control. The two...
unfalsifiable. Documented examples are considered to be the result of the ideomotorphenomenon. Spirit writing, later called Fuji (扶乩/扶箕), has a long tradition...
or short phrase. Enthusiasts consider EVP to be a form of paranormal phenomenon often found in recordings with static or other background noise. Scientists...
is no known scientific evidence that astral projection as an objective phenomenon exists, although there are cases of patients having experiences suggestive...
Spiritism), 1868 A possible explanation for these movements is the ideomotorphenomenon. Lewis Spence. (2003). Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology...
sightings are of the same creature. A very likely explanation for this phenomenon is that individuals who had heard of the newly popular chupacabra had...
correlates with the ideomotorphenomenon because both rely on unconscious movement. The difference is that the ideomotorphenomenon is based on the idea...
investigations Ideomotorphenomenon Lady Wonder, a horse with purported telepathic abilities. Beautiful Jim Key Muhamed (horse) "Clever Hans phenomenon". skepdic...
of ITV paranormal documentary series Extreme Ghost Stories, where the phenomenon is described as a "black mass". One example of a particular shadow person...
"spectral evidence" against defendants. Matthew Hopkins described the phenomenon in his book The Discovery of Witches. Émilie Sagée, a French teacher working...
Ideomotor Apraxia, often IMA, is a neurological disorder characterized by the inability to correctly imitate hand gestures and voluntarily mime tool use...
UFO report, as given in the Rhodes book, he stated that he had seen the phenomenon in October, 1969, at 7:15 pm EST. However, it has been determined from...
emigration, or abuse. The psychiatrist Iván Böszörményi-Nagy referred to this phenomenon as "invisible loyalties". The philosophical orientation of Family Constellations...
does not conform to conventional expectations of nature. Therefore, a phenomenon cannot be confirmed as paranormal using the scientific method because...
Global Information
