Why you think your phone is vibrating when it is not

[Orphia Nay]

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

Does this happen to you?

http://mindhacks.com/2013/07/16/why-you-think-your-phone-is-vibrating-when-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.

 

[Donn]

I have felt my phone vibrate on my front-hip (belt pouch thing) when no call was happening. It happens quite often really, and I'm not at all focussed or in expectation-of calls.

It's a soft tickle. I feel it and wonder, "is my phone vibrating?" I then touch it to determine.
(Perhaps it's quantum and the universe splits into two cases at this point! )

When it does ring, the vibration is always stronger than the false positive vibes. It also seems, pathetically, that knowing all of this does not stop it from happening or fooling me every time.

 

[ehcks]

I once thought I felt my phone vibrating and then when I reached for it, I remembered my phone was at home.

 

[Reivax]

Looks like you have a bad case of phantom vibration syndrome.

 

[GlennB]

When I'm expecting rain I often look out the window and could swear I can see rain falling when it isn't.

 

[casebro]

Are you sure it's not the EMR directly affecting the nerves? [[\CT mode]

 

[ServiceSoon]

Yes, I've done this. In some instances it was the rubberized coating on the phone binding in my jeans that caused a vibration.

 

[Alt+F4]

This happens to me a lot but I think it is because I live near an airport.

 

[Old man]

Used to happen to me when I carried my phone in a case on my belt, but almost always in my car. Turns out that the seat belt would sometimes transmit vibrations from the car to the phone.

 

[dlorde]

I've been recovering from a virus that had a number of strange effects on my peripheral senses, particularly the skin (itchy neck & jaw, sunburn sensation across shoulders & back, etc). As the virus faded, I started getting a brief (1 sec) sensation of vibration in a narrow band all around the waist - like a vibrating belt being briefly tightened. This has now faded too, but was quite disturbing while it lasted.

I've also had the 'phantom phone' sensation, usually on the thigh where the pocket usually holding my phone rests, and this virus-induced sensation was similar, but much clearer and more extensive. I did wonder whether similar neural mechanisms were at work...

 

[catsmate]

Yeah, this happens to me occasionally.

 

[rwguinn]

Yeah, this happens to me occasionally.

It's just the NSA checking your implant, letting the CIA know where you are...

 

[s4zando]

Thank you, thought I was losing my mind there! Now time to make $$$ fleecing the public on some woo device to overcome this psychological burden for which there is obviously a market.

 

[Ron_Tomkins]

Very rarely this happens to me. And when it does, there's always a logial explanation. Sometimes I'll get a slight muscle spam in my leg, near the area where my phone is. Sometimes, I'm skating and the vibration of the wheels on the ground at some point make it seem like the phone in my pocket is vibrating. Even my stomach fooled my once. I had a stomach growl and for a second I thought it was the phone vibrating.

There's also psychological components. If you're unconsciously expecting a call, you may pay more attention to any slight sign of vibration in your body, and immediately have your brain fire a signal "IS THAT IT?? IS THAT THE PHONE??"


Other than that, I have actually developed a keen sense for my phone. I can tell, almost always, whether I got a text message or a Whatsapp message solely by the type of vibration. I can also tell if the phone is ringing or if got a text message, by the first vibration (Meaning, if it's a text message, it's one single vibration, and if it's a call it's a series of vibrations, but I can tell by the first vibration whether it's gonna be a phone call or a text message)

 

[s4zando]

I can also tell if the phone is ringing or if got a text message, by the first vibration (Meaning, if it's a text message, it's one single vibration, and if it's a call it's a series of vibrations, but I can tell by the first vibration whether it's gonna be a phone call or a text message)

Could be a "Clever Hans" type deal. Is it truly the first vibe, or is it really the 1000th of a second after the second vibe does/n't materialize?

 

[Wolfman]

Actually, the phone companies have banded together in the largest psychology experiment in human history, with all of us as the unwitting guinea pigs. The phones they sell us are designed to vibrate randomly, giving the user the impression that it is a 'phantom' vibration. While this has been going on for awhile, it is the introduction of cameras in phones which has made it even more devious, as the camera lens is used by the phone to detect when it is in complete darkness (ie. in a purse or a pocket) before it will vibrate; and it will always vibrate for a scientifically determined period of time which doesn't give the owner time to register the vibration, and then actually grab the phone, before the vibration stops.

Once we've become convinced that these vibrations are "imaginary", the phone companies will start adding other effects, slowly subverting our conscious minds, and turning us into unthinking, brainwashed slaves.

This is true, because my best friend's cousin's older sister is dating a guy who's a policeman, and he heard about it from another policeman, who was actually working undercover for the CIA. I am risking my very life in revealing this information to all of you. But the truth must be known!

 

[s4zando]

Thank you, thought I was losing my mind there! Now time to make $$$ fleecing the public on some woo device to overcome this psychological burden for which there is obviously a market.

Actually, the phone companies have banded together in the largest psychology experiment in human history, with all of us as the unwitting guinea pigs. The phones they sell us are designed to vibrate randomly, giving the user the impression that it is a 'phantom' vibration. While this has been going on for awhile, it is the introduction of cameras in phones which has made it even more devious, as the camera lens is used by the phone to detect when it is in complete darkness (ie. in a purse or a pocket) before it will vibrate; and it will always vibrate for a scientifically determined period of time which doesn't give the owner time to register the vibration, and then actually grab the phone, before the vibration stops.

Once we've become convinced that these vibrations are "imaginary", the phone companies will start adding other effects, slowly subverting our conscious minds, and turning us into unthinking, brainwashed slaves.

This is true, because my best friend's cousin's older sister is dating a guy who's a policeman, and he heard about it from another policeman, who was actually working undercover for the CIA. I am risking my very life in revealing this information to all of you. But the truth must be known!

I like how you think, sir. Let's get our heads together on this, you take the eastern hemisphere, I'll take the west. We can do this quick, while the irons are hot. You can work the Chi end, I will handle the magnets and spools of copper.

 

[dlorde]

Actually, the phone companies have banded together in the largest psychology experiment in human history, with all of us as the unwitting guinea pigs. The phones they sell us are designed to vibrate randomly, giving the user the impression that it is a 'phantom' vibration. While this has been going on for awhile, it is the introduction of cameras in phones which has made it even more devious, as the camera lens is used by the phone to detect when it is in complete darkness (ie. in a purse or a pocket) before it will vibrate; and it will always vibrate for a scientifically determined period of time which doesn't give the owner time to register the vibration, and then actually grab the phone, before the vibration stops.

It's a lovely thought, but it doesn't explain the fact that one generally notices phantom phone vibration because it happens when the phone isn't where the vibration occurs.

 

[Wolfman]

I like how you think, sir. Let's get our heads together on this, you take the eastern hemisphere, I'll take the west. We can do this quick, while the irons are hot. You can work the Chi end, I will handle the magnets and spools of copper.

magnets and spools of copper? Why bother with so much? Just make a rubberized wrist band with the words "Quantum Equalizer" written on it. Tell them that wearing it protects them from the evil energies of the phones, and anything else.

 

[Wolfman]

It's a lovely thought, but it doesn't explain the fact that one generally notices phantom phone vibration because it happens when the phone isn't where the vibration occurs.

Ah, they've already got you on phase two of the experiment.