point-light display

a display used in studies of biological motion perception and consisting of a dozen or so small lights attached to various joints and other parts of the body of an individual, with the body itself not visible. The movement of just the small lights (or a computer reproduction thereof) produces a compelling impression of the individual in motion. However, without movement, the lights are perceived as random and not as the individual. [devised in the 1970s by Swedish psychologist Gunnar Johansson (1911–1998)]

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Psychology term of the day

February 16th 2025

cause

1. an event or state that brings about another (its effect).

2. in Aristotelian and rationalist philosophy, an entity or event that is a requirement for another entity or event’s coming to be. Aristotle proposed that there were four types of cause—material, formal, efficient, and final. In the case of a sculpture, for example, the material cause is the stone or metal from which it is made, the formal cause is the form or structure that it takes, the efficient cause is the sculptor, and the final cause is the sculptor’s aim or purpose in making it. —causal adj.