ideomotor

[ahy-dee-uh-moh-ter, id-ee-uh-]

adjective

Psychology.

1. of or relating to involuntary motor activity caused by an idea.

ideomotor

/ ˌaɪdɪəˈməʊtə /

adjective

1. physiol designating automatic muscular movements stimulated by ideas, as in absent-minded acts

Other Word Forms

• ideomotion noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of ideomotor¹

First recorded in 1865–70; ideo- + motor

Example Sentences

FC has been repeatedly documented to produce the ideomotor effect, or “ouija board” effect, in which a person unconsciously influences his or her own motor behavior, in this case guiding a disabled person’s hand as a consequence.

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Given the long history of sexual abuse allegations and other horror stories, Stubblefield should have known that the ideomotor effect might have been at work.

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The literature showing the ideomotor effect in FC is voluminous.

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In late 1993, ‘‘Frontline’’ aired a special that told Betsy Wheaton’s story, among others, and suggested that facilitated communication was an elaborate display of what psychologists call the ideomotor effect, in which an external suggestion or a person’s beliefs or expectations trigger unconscious movement: The facilitator was guiding the typing, even if she didn’t know it.

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The fake "detectors" - sold with spurious but scientific-sounding claims - were little more than empty cases with an aerial which swings according to the user's unconscious hand movements, "the ideomotor effect".

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