Why you think your phone is vibrating when it is not

Why do we think our phone is vibrating when it's not?



Does this happen to you?



http://mindhacks.com/2013/07/16/why-...hen-it-is-not/

"You are an example of a perceptual system, just like a fire alarm, an automatic door, or a daffodil bulb that must decide when spring has truly started. Your brain has to make a perceptual judgment about whether the phone in your pocket is really vibrating. And, analogous to a daffodil bulb on a warm February morning, it has to decide whether the incoming signals from the skin near your pocket indicate a true change in the world.



"Psychologists use a concept called Signal Detection Theory to guide their thinking about the problem of perceptual judgments. Working though the example of phone vibrations, we can see how this theory explains why they are a common and unavoidable part of healthy mental function."

I've never imagined hearing the phone ring, but I have imagined the phone vibrating a few times.



I know this happens to my son too.



This seems to have something to do with the importance you place on the calls you might be getting.



I'll have to look out for phantom vibrations when I am / am not expecting important calls.



I suspect if you're expecting important calls, you imagine them more often.

via JREF Forum http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=263262&goto=newpost