what is the “phi” phenomenon? crash course

by Prof. Lela Parisian PhD 7 min read

The Phi Phenomenon is an optical illusion that lets you see a series of images in rapid succession as continuous motion.Apr 14, 2017

What is the phi phenomenon?

The phi phenomenon is quite similar to another perceptual illusion described by Wertheimer, called beta movement, an allusion in which your brain combines two images or more, which you then you perceive them as moving. So, for example, say you're looking at a computer screen and see several dots arranged in a circle.

How did Max Wertheimer discover the phi phenomenon?

The discovery of the phi phenomenon is attributed to Max Wertheimer, a German psychologist who studied sensation and perception. To demonstrate how the phi phenomenon works, researchers projected a line on the left side of a projector, and then a line on the right side of the projector. They did this in rapid succession.

What is the difference between Phi movement and beta movement?

The difference between phi movement and beta movement is this: in phi movement, your brain is filling a gap where there isn't really an image, and in beta movement, your brain sees a series of images as one image changing location. How Does the Phi Phenomenon Occur?

What was the phi phenomenon and how did it influence Gestalt psychology?

The phi phenomenon is an optical illusion that leads the brain to see a moving object from a series of images. Gestalt psychology focuses on percep...

Is phi phenomenon used in movies?

It is used in movies. It has come to become an essential part of film theory. Filmmakers consider the phi phenomenon as they plan their films.

Why was the phi phenomenon important?

The phi phenomenon helped further the field of Gestalt psychology. It also helps psychologists better understand how the human brain perceives.

What is the Phi phenomenon?

The explanations of the phi phenomenon are both optical and psychological. In other words, they refer both to how our eyes receive information and to how our minds process it. For psychologists, of course, the explanations based on mental processes are usually more interesting.

What does the grey Apple logo mean?

If you use an apple computer—and even if you don’t—you’re likely to have seen the picture above before: a grey apple logo with a circular array of “spokes” below that signifies that the computer is booting up. If I ask you whether there is any circular motion in this image, your initial answer is likely to be: of course! But if you think more carefully, you’ll realize that nothing is actually moving. Instead, the spokes are staying in place and becoming darker or lighter in a circular pattern so that they appear to be moving.

What is the brain's role in the color-phi stimulus?

The point is that the brain is (among other things) a classifier. It classifies the color-phi stimulus and a moving-color-changing stimulus in the same way – they have the same Dewey decimal number. That’s what it means to say that we “see” two physically different things as the same. That’s all it means.

What is the domain of color phi?

First, note that like all other psychological phenomena, the effect involves three conceptually separate domains: Domain 1: The first is the domain of felt experience, the phenomenological domain.

What is associative memory?

Associative memory is the “fruit fly” or “Bohr atom” of this field . It illustrates in about the simplest possible manner the way that collective computation can work. The basic problem is this: Store a set of p patterns in such a way that when presented with a new pattern , the network responds by producing whichever one of the stored patterns most closely resembles . [17]

Is color phi clockable?

Color phi provides yet another example of the same confusion. Dennett and Kinsbourne write “Conscious experiences are real events occurring in the real time and space of the brain, and hence they are clockable and locatable within the appropriate limits of precision for real phenomena of their type.” [7] Well, no, not really. What can be clocked and located are reports of conscious experi­ences and measurements of physiological events. Conscious experiences are Domain 1, which has neither time nor space, but only ineffable qualia . The only evidence we have for these qualia (at least, for someone else’s) is Domain 3 . And we can try and correlate Domain 3 data with Domain 2 data and infer something about the brain correlates of reported experiences. But that’s all. Dennett and Kinsbourne’s confident claim just confuses the issue.

Who developed the film loop?

changed how film was fed into a projector; involved a pair of small, loose loops of film—one above and one below the projector's lens—held in place with extra sprockets; helped protect the film from vibrations and tension, which could lead to damage; developed by Woodville Latham in 1895. Allowed for longer, more complex films to be filmed. Allowed for more experimentation with editing.

What is the idea behind putting together two or more shots that have similar tonal or thematic qualities?

The idea here is that these shots build on one another and reinforce the emotional or psychological meaning the film is trying to convey

What is the term for the phenomenon of metals releasing electrons when they are exposed to the light of the appropriate?

Definition of Photoelectric Effect. The phenomenon of metals releasing electrons when they are exposed to the light of the appropriate frequency is called the photoelectric effect, and the electrons emitted during the process are called photoelectrons.

What happens if the energy of a photon is less than the threshold energy?

If the energy of the photon is less than the threshold energy, there will be no emission of photoelectrons (since the attractive forces between the nuclei and the electrons cannot be overcome). Thus, the photoelectric effect will not occur if 𝜈 < 𝜈 th.

Why does the photoelectric effect not occur when the red light strikes the metallic surface?

The photoelectric effect does not occur when the red light strikes the metallic surface because the frequency of red light is lower than the threshold frequency of the metal. The photoelectric effect occurs when green light strikes the metallic surface and photoelectrons are emitted. The photoelectric effect also occurs when blue light strikes ...

When was the photoelectric effect first discovered?

The photoelectric effect was first introduced by Wilhelm Ludwig Franz Hallwachs in the year 1887 and the experimental verification was done by Heinrich Rudolf Hertz. They observed that when a surface is exposed to electromagnetic radiation at a higher threshold frequency, the radiation is absorbed and the electrons are emitted. Today, we study photoelectric effect as a phenomenon which involves a material absorbing electromagnetic radiation and releasing electrically charged particles.

Does intensity affect the energy of photons?

Intensity has nothing to do with the energy of the photon. Therefore, the intensity of the radiation is increased, the rate of emission increases but there will be no change in the kinetic energy of electrons. With an increasing number of emitted electrons, the value of photoelectric current increases.

Is photoelectric current proportional to the intensity of incident radiation?

It shows that photoelectric current and intensity of incident radiation both are proportional to each other.

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