chromatokinopsia

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. In psychology, the ‘fluttering heart,’ a visual illusion of movement. If a row of small blue circles is pasted on a strip of red cardboard, and the diagram, held in a dark corner of the room, is given a short to-and-fro motion in its own plane, the circles will appear to slip or spring from side to side. Better effects are obtained if the eye is adapted to darkness and a candle or low gas flame is used for illumination. E. C. Sanford, Exper. Psychol., p. 318.