Ch.10 "Vision and Visual Perception"

Question 1

Accommodation

Answer 1

Changing of the lens shape to focus light onto the retina; the ciliary muscles contract to make the lens rounder for a near object, and relax to flatten the lens for a far object.

Question 2

Binding Problem

Answer 2

The question of how the brain combines all the information about an object into a unitary whole.

Question 3

Blindsight

Answer 3

The ability of cortically blind individuals to respond to visual stimuli that are outside conscious awareness.

Question 4

Color Agnosia

Answer 4

Loss of the ability to perceive colors due to brain damage.

Question 5

Color Blindness

Answer 5

Also called color vision deficiency; one or more color-sensitive cones is functionally impaired or absent.

Question 6

Color Constancy

Answer 6

The ability to recognize the natural color of an object regardless of the wavelength of illuminating light.

Question 7

Complementary Colors

Answer 7

Colors that cancel each other out to produce a neutral gray or white.

Question 8

Complex Cell

Answer 8

A type of cell in the visual cortex that continues to respond (unlike simple cells) when a line or an edge moves to a different location.

Question 9

Distributed

Answer 9

A term referring to any brain function that occurs across a relatively wide area of the brain.

Question 10

Dorsal Stream

Answer 10

The visual processing pathway that extends into the parietal lobes; it is especially concerned with the location of objects in space.

Question 11

Electromagnetic Spectrum

Answer 11

A variety of energy forms, ranging from high-frequency gamma rays at one extreme to very-low-frequency electrical currents on the other.

Question 12

Form Vision

Answer 12

The detection of an object’s boundaries and features, such as texture.

Question 13

Fovea

Answer 13

A 1.5-mm-wide area in the middle of the retina in which cones are most concentrated and visual acuity and color discrimination are greatest.

Question 14

Fusiform Face Area (FFA)

Answer 14

A part of the inferior temporal lobe important in face identification. See prosopagnosia.

Question 15

Hierarchical Processing

Answer 15

A type of processing in which lower levels of the nervous system analyze their information and pass the results on to the next higher level for further analysis.

Question 16

Iodopsin

Answer 16

A group of three photopigments found in cones; one form is sensitive to red light, one is sensitive to green light, and one is sensitive to bluish-violet light.

Question 17

Lateral Inhibition

Answer 17

A method of enhancing neural information in which each neuron’s activity inhibits the activity of its neighbors, and in turn its activity is inhibited by them.

Question 18

Magnocellular System

Answer 18

A division of the visual system, extending from the retina through the visual association areas, that is specialized for brightness contrast and movement.

Question 19

Modular Processing

Answer 19

The segregation of the various components of processing in the brain into separate locations.

Question 20

Movement Agnosia

Answer 20

Impaired Ability to Perceive Movement.

Question 21

Negative Color Aftereffect

Answer 21

The experience of a color’s complement following stimulation by the color.

Question 22

Object Agnosia

Answer 22

Impairment of the ability to recognize objects visually.

Question 23

Opponent Process Theory

Answer 23

A color vision theory that attempts to explain color vision in terms of opposing neural processes.

Question 24

Parvocellular System

Answer 24

A division of the visual system, extending from the retina through the visual association areas, that is specialized for fine detail and color.

Question 25

Photopigment

Answer 25

A light-sensitive chemical in the visual receptors that initiates the neural response.

Question 26

Prosopagnosia

Answer 26

The inability to visually recognize familiar faces.

Question 27

Receptive Field

Answer 27

In vision, the area of the retina from which a cell in the visual system receives its input.

Question 28

Retina

Answer 28

The structure at the rear of the eye, which is made up of light-sensitive receptor cells and the neural cells that are connected to them.

Question 29

Retinal Disparity

Answer 29

A discrepancy in the location of an object’s image on the two retinas; a cue to the distance of a focused object.

Question 30

Retinotopic Map

Answer 30

A map of the retina in the visual cortex, which results from adjacent receptors in the retina activating adjacent cells in the visual cortex.

Question 31

Rhodopsin

Answer 31

The photopigment in rods that is sensitive to all wavelengths of visible light.

Question 32

Simple Cell

Answer 32

A cell in the visual cortex that responds to a line or an edge that is at a specific orientation and a specific place on the retina.

Question 33

Spatial Frequency Theory

Answer 33

The idea that visual cortical cells do a Fourier frequency analysis of the luminosity variations in a scene.

Question 34

Synesthesia

Answer 34

A condition in which stimulation in one sense triggers an experience in another sense.

Question 35

Trichromatic Theory

Answer 35

The hypothesis that three color processes account for all the colors we are able to distinguish.

Question 36

Ventral Stream

Answer 36

The visual processing pathway that extends into the temporal lobes; it is especially concerned with the identification of objects.

Question 37

Visual Acuity

Answer 37

The ability to distinguish visual details.

Question 38

Visual Field

Answer 38

The part of the environment that is being registered on the retina.

Question 39

Visual Word Form Area (VWFA)

Answer 39

An area in the human inferior temporal lobe involved in reading words.