autokinetic effect


au·to·ki·net·ic ef·fect

in psychology, the apparent drifting about of a small, fixed, spot of light that is being observed in a dark room.

autokinetic effect

The misperception of movement in a stationary object or source of light, which is due to saccadic movement of the eyes in response to low light, and misinterpreted as movement of the light source, as there are no other visible objects visible to which to relate the perceived movement.