Chapter 3: Spatial Vision (Part the First) Flashcards
What happens if ALL of the ganglion cell receives light??
NOTHING
Ganglion cells are unaffected by average light intensity, and are most responsive to _____ .
DIFFERENCES in light intensity.
Cortical visual pathways
- Retina
- Optic Nerve
- Optic Chiasm
- Optic Tract
- LGN
- Optic Radiation
- Striate Cortex
Acuity
The smallest spatial detail that can be resolved
Visual Acuity: Oh Say, Can You See?
The Bars
At some point your perception of the black and white bars turns to grey.
This threshold is a result of your visual acuity.
Measuring visual acuity:
Eye doctors use distance (e.g., 20/20)
Vision scientists use the smallest visual angle of a cycle of a grating.
Concept of visual angle:
Cycle is one black + one white stripe.
The smallest part of the pattern.
The visual system “samples” the grating discretely.
This is just like digital cameras…
Remember the arrangement of cones at the back of the retina…
Each cone takes up some room, and a cycle will only be perceived if it as at least the width of 2 cones.
If cycle is the width of one cone, the visual system won’t be able to encode it.
CONES at the fovea have a separation of 0.008 degrees of visual angle. PRETTY SMALL!
Normal Human Visual acuity is 0.017degrees. Twice the separation of cones!!
Herman Snellen invented method for designating visual acuity in 1862
LETTER is 5 times as large as the strokes that form the letter.
So, what does it mean to be 20/20?
It means you can see like most people:
the distance at which you can just identify the letters.
divided by
the distance at which a person with “normal” vision can just identify the letters.
not perfect but normal vision
20/20
The physiological limit of human vision, (based on cone density).
20/8
legally blind in the US
20/200 while wearing corrective lens is legally blind in the US
Landolt Rings
In other countries:
Spatial Frequency:
The number of cycles of a grating per unit of visual angle (usually specified in degrees)
Contrast
The difference in illumination between a figure and its background
If you were standing at a distance for which the double arrow was one degree of visual angle, then…
Our ability to see these patterns actually depends on BOTH contrast and SF…
Why does an oriented grating appear to be gray if you are far enough away?
This striped pattern is a “sine wave grating.”
The visual system “samples” the grating discretely.
Sensitivity
A value that defines the easy with which an observer can tell the difference between either
The presence or absence of a stimulus.
The difference between stimulus 1 and 2.
Just Noticeable Difference (JND)
AKA a difference THRESHOLD
The smallest detectable difference between two stimuli.
The minimum change in a stimulus that enables it to be correctly judged as different.
The Relationship between
Threshold and Sensitivity
Thresholds are inversely proportional to sensitivity.
Thresholds and sensitivity are inversely related.
James Bond
Low pain sensitivity
High pain threshold
Carleton Banks
High emotional sensitivity
Low emotional threshold
Cycles per degree
The number of dark and bright bars per degree of visual angle
Contrast Sensitivity Function (CSF).
Developed by Otto Schade.
How much lighter must the light patch be for you to see the grading (not gray)?
Contrast Sensitivity is the inverse of the contrast Threshold.
For 1 cycle per degree, the light must be 0.01 lighter than the background dark region (surface reflecting 1000 photons, the background reflecting 990).
A contrast of 100% (All light vs No light) corresponds to a contrast sensitivity of 1.
We can see about 60 cycles / degree at that sensitivity. 60 cycles per degree is 0.017.
Contrast Threshold
minimum difference in contrast for you to detect a pattern.
If a pattern is 1000 photons (brighter) alternating with 990 photons (darker), and this is the smallest difference in contrast for you to see this pattern, then
CT= (1000-990)/1000 = 0.01.
Contrast Sensitivity =
inverse of Contrast Threshold.
What is a Contrast Sensitivity of 1?
A contrast of 100% (All light vs No light) corresponds to a contrast sensitivity of 1.
We can see about 60 cycles / degree at that sensitivity. 60 cycles per degree is 0.017 (as mentioned before).