Beta movement is a perceptual illusion, described by Max Wertheimer in his 1912 Experimental Studies on the Seeing of Motion, whereby two or more still images are combined by the brain into surmised motion. This is often erroneously referred to as the phi phenomenon, which is a different, related illusion. In psychology and the cognitive sciences, perception is the process of acquiring, interpreting, selecting, and organizing sensory information. ... An illusion is a distortion of a sensory perception. ... Max Wertheimer (Prague, April 15, 1880 - New York, October 12, 1943) was one of the founders of Gestalt psychology. ... 1912 is a leap year starting on Monday. ... Image of the Wikimedia Commons logo. ... In the anatomy of animals, the brain, or encephalon, is the supervisory center of the nervous system. ... This article is about motion in physics. ... The phi phenomenon is a perceptual illusion described by Max Wertheimer in his 1912 Experimental Studies on the Seeing of Motion, in which a disembodied perception of motion is produced by a succession of still images. ...

The classic beta phenomenon experiment involves a viewer or audience watching a screen, upon which the experimenter projects two images in succession. The first image depicts a ball on the left side of the frame. The second image depicts a ball on the right side of the frame. The images may be shown quickly, in rapid succession, or each frame may be given several seconds of viewing time. Once both images have been projected, the experimenter asks the viewer or audience to describe what they saw. A ball is a round object that is used most often in sports and games. ...

Generally, audiences will claim that they saw a ball move from left to right. They did not, in fact, see this, but the cognitive process of perception links the two images in time and causality. 8:17 am, August 6, 1945, Japanese time. ... The philosophical concept of causality or causation refers to the set of all particular causal or cause-and-effect relations. ...

The beta phenomenon can also create the illusion of motion toward and away from an audience. When the first image is of a large object, and the second is of a small object (or vice-versa), the audience will generally report that the object moved away from them. Additionally, if the first frame depicts a brightly-colored object against a solid background, and the second depicts the same object but in colors similar to the background, the audience will report that the object moved away from them. Color is an important part of the visual arts. ...

See also

• Gestalt psychology
• Persistence of vision

Gestalt psychology (also: Gestalt theory of the Berlin School) is a psychological theory which provides a framework for a wide variety of psychological phenomena, processes, and applications. ... According to the theory of persistence of vision, the perceptual processes of the brain or the retina of the human eye retains an image for a split second. ...

External links

• Phi is not Beta (http://www.psych.purdue.edu/Magniphi/PhiIsNotBeta/phi1.html) – An explanation of the difference between the beta and phi phenomena.
• The Myth of Persistence of Vision Revisited (http://www.uca.edu/org/ccsmi/ccsmi/classicwork/Myth%20Revisited.htm) – A detailed explanation of how the perception of motion in film and video differs from the simplest notions of "persistence of vision".