Perception of motion

Shea Says:

• Perceptual psychologists still are working to understand and explain the neural and cognitive processes involved in the perception of motion.

• A Possible explanation involves two perceptual phenomena:

  • Persistence of Vision: an optical/perceptual phenomenon that prevents us from seeing the dark space between the film frames by causing flicker fusion and the

  • Phi Phenomenon: also known at the stroboscopic effect.Creates apparent movement from frame to frame.

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To explain this simply the effect of perception of motion is how we see film as a space continuous movement instead of a series of still images separated by a closing of the film shutter. This perception is fostered by two factors:

• Persistence of vision: Our brain keep the image in our mind long enough to ignore the black screen that flickers between each shot.

• Phi phenomenon: creates the perception of motion by closing a shutter between each still shot. It is through persistence of vision that we can ignore the black screen that the shutter creates.