page_title: Joseph Jastrow
section_title: Involuntary movement
hierarchical_section_title: Joseph Jastrow / Other research / Involuntary movement
caption_attribution_description: The automatograph
context_page_description: Joseph Jastrow was a Polish-born American psychologist, noted for inventions in experimental psychology, design of experiments, and psychophysics. He also worked on the phenomena of optical illusions, and a number of well-known optical illusions were either discovered or popularized in his work. Jastrow believed that everyone had their own, often incorrect, preconceptions about psychology. One of his goals was to use the scientific method to identify truth from error, and educate the layperson, which he did through speaking tours, popular print media, and radio.
context_section_description: To detect unconscious movement of the hand, Jastrow invented a machine he called the automagraph. He found that when a subject was asked to concentrate on an object, their hand moved unconsciously in that direction. The magnitude of the effect varied across individuals, especially in children, where the movement was more random.
caption: The automatograph
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