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intro psych > chapter 4.2 > Flashcards

chapter 4.2 Flashcards

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1
Q

how does the human eye work?

A

it translates information into neural impulses and transfers it to the brain for complex processing

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2
Q

how does the eye make sure it properly captures the visual information?

A

the eye has specialized structures that allow us to maintain a focus on the most important objects in a scene and turns physical energy in to action potentials

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3
Q

what is the primary function of the eye?

A

gather light and change it into action potential

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4
Q

how does light travel?

A

in waves

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5
Q

what does “light” actually refer to?

A

the radiation that occupies a relatively narrow band of the electromagnetic spectrum

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6
Q

what are the 2 different ways that light waves can vary?

A

length
amplitude

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7
Q

what is a wavelength?

A

the distance between peaks of a wave

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8
Q

what are differences in wavelengths?

A

correspond to different colours on the electromagnetic spectrum

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9
Q

what do long wavelengths correspond to our perception of?

A

they correspond to our perception of reddish colours

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10
Q

what do short wavelengths correspond to our perception of?

A

they correspond to our perception of blueish colours

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11
Q

what do different shades of green represent?

A

they represent wavelengths of light in-between the wavelengths of red and blue

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12
Q

what kind of light can bees see?

A

ultraviolet light

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13
Q

what kind of light can reptiles see?

A

infrared light

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14
Q

what have some scientists suggested as to why humans can see red-green vision?

A

to distinguish between types of edible vegetation

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15
Q

what causes this differences in what light species can see?

A

likely due to the different evolutionary demands each species have faced

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16
Q

what does amplitude refer to?

A

the hight of a wave

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17
Q

how do different amplitudes impact the light?

A

low-amplitude waves are seen as dim colours and high-amplitude waves are seen as bright colours

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18
Q

if a large portion of the light waves are clustered around one wavelength, how will you see the lightwave?

A

the colour will appear washed out

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19
Q

can you view multiple wavelengths at once?

A

yes

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20
Q

what is an example of viewing multiple wavelengths at once?

A

when you look at a clear-blue sky, you are viewing multiple wavelengths of light at the same time, but blue is more prevalent and there for dominate your impression

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21
Q

what are the 3 characteristics of light?

A

wavelength- hue
amplitude- intensity
purity- saturation

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22
Q

what is the sclera?

A

the white, outer surface of the eye

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23
Q

what is the cornea?

A

the clear layer that covers the front portion of the eye and also contributes to the eyes ability to focus

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24
Q

how does light enter the eye?

A

light enters the eye through the cornea and passes through the pupil

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25
Q

what is the pupil?

A

regulates the amount of light that enters by changing its size, dilates (expands) to allow more light, constricts (shrinks) to allow less light into the eye

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26
Q

what causes the pupil to change size?

A

the iris

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27
Q

what is the iris?

A

a round muscle that adjusts the size of the pupil; it also gives the eye their charateristic colour

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28
Q

what is the lens?

A

a clear structure that focuses light onto the back of the eye

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29
Q

why does the lens change shape?

A

to ensure that light entering the eye is refracted in such a way that it is focused when it reaches the back of the eye- known as accommodation

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30
Q

what happens when light reaches the back of the eye?

A

it will stimulate a layer of specialized receptors that convert light into a message that the brain can interpret known as transduction

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31
Q

what is the retina?

A

lines the innerserface of the back of the eye and consists of specialized receptors that absorb light and send signals related to the properties of light to the brain

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32
Q

what do ganglion cells do?

A

gather up information from the photo receptors

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33
Q

what is the optic nerve?

A

a dense bundle of fibres that connect to the brain and is where the activity of ganglion cells is sent out of the eye through

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34
Q

what is a blind spot?

A

an area on the retina where there are no photo receptors

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35
Q

what are the 2 types of photo receptors?

A

rods
cones

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36
Q

what are rods?

A

photoreceptors that occupy peripheral regions of the retina; they are highly sensitive under low light levels

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37
Q

what kid of colour are rods responsive to?

A

black and grey

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38
Q

what are cones?

A

photoreceptors that are sensitive to the different wavelengths of light that we perceive as colour and tend to be clustered around the fovea

39
Q

what is the fovea?

A

the central region of the retina

40
Q

what is the ratio of ganglion cells to cones in the fovea?

A

one to one

41
Q

what is the ratio of ganglion cells to rods in the fovea?

A

1 to 10

42
Q

in daylight or artificial light, what is more active, cones or rods?

A

cones, they help us detect differences in the ocular of objects and to discriminate the objects fine details

43
Q

what is dark adaptation?

A

the process by which rods and cones become increasingly sensitive to light under low illumination

44
Q

why does dark adaptation happen?

A

photoreceptors are slowly becoming regenerated after having been exposed to light

45
Q

how long does it take for cones to regenerate after dark adaptation?

A

about 10 mins

46
Q

what is the trichromatic theory or young-helmholtz theory?

A

the trichromatic theory maintains that colour vision is determined by three different cone types that are sensitive to short, medium and long wavelengths of light

47
Q

what colours associate with the 3 cones?

A

short-blue
medium-green
long-red

48
Q

how do the three cones allow us to see the full colour spectrum?

A

these all combine to help us see all colours, and light that stimulates all cones is perceived as white

49
Q

what is the opponent-process theory?

A

the theory of colour perception that states that we perceive colour in terms of opposing pairs: red to green, yellow to blue and black to white

50
Q

what is the most common form of colour blindness?

A

affects the ability to distinguish between red and green

51
Q

what causes colour blindness?

A

when one of these types of cones do not contain the correct protein

52
Q

what is nearsightedness or myopia?

A

occurs when the eyeball is slightly elongated, causing the image that the cornea and lens focus on to fall short of the retina

53
Q

how do nearsighted people see?

A

they can see objects that are relatively closeup but have difficulty focusing on distant objects

54
Q

what is farsightedness or hyperopia?

A

occurs when the lengths of the eye is sorter than normal, causing people to see distant objects clearly but not those that are close

55
Q

how can you correct nearsightedness and farsighted ness?

A

by using contact lenses or glasses

56
Q

what does LASIK mean?

A

laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis

57
Q

how does lasik work?

A

surgeons create a small flap on the surface of the eye then use a laser to reshape the cornea so that incoming light focus on the retina, this create near perfect vision

58
Q

how do doctors solve nearsightedness and farsightedness?

A

nearsightedness- doctors attempt to flatten the cornea

farsightedness- doctors attempt to make the corner steeper

59
Q

what percentage of LASIK patients are satisfied?

A

90%

60
Q

what is the optic chiasm?

A

the point at which the optic nerves cross at the midline of the brain and is the first major destination for information from the optic nerve

61
Q

where does each optic never travel to?

A

for all optic nerves, half travels to the ipsilateral and the other half travels to the contralateral

62
Q

how is our vision processed my each side of our brain?

A

the left half of our visual field is processed by the right hemisphere and the right half of our visual field is processed by our left hemisphere

63
Q

why is our fields of vision processing by the opposite sides of our brains?

A

so if a persons brain is damaged both eyes send some information to both hemisphere so that the likelihood of visual abilities are preserved is increased

64
Q

what nuclei is specific for processing visual information?

A

the lateral geniculate nucleus

65
Q

what is the feature detection cells?

A

these cells respond selectively to simple and specific aspects of a stimulus such as angles and edges

66
Q

what are the 2 streams of vision?

A

the ventral stream
the dorsal stream

67
Q

what is the ventral stream?

A

extends from the visual cortex to the lower part of the temporal

68
Q

what is the dorsal stream?

A

extends from the visual cortex to the parietal lobe

69
Q

what is the critical function of the ventral stream?

A

object recognition

70
Q

what does damage to the ventral stream do?

A

caused dramatic impairments in object recognition

71
Q

what are the 4 things that have distinct areas of the ventral stream of vision?

A

tools
animals
musical instruments
faces

72
Q

what are faces important to eyesight?

A

we can use them as a source of important social information such as someone’s emotional state or hints as to how you should respond to them or the situation you are both in

73
Q

what is prosopagnosia?

A

a specific genetic problem or brain damage that can lead to an ability to recognize faces

74
Q

how are faces perceived by the brain?

A

holistically, this means that rather than seeing a nose, eyes, ears, chin we see the whole face, that’s why we can see the upside down face that looks normal until you flip it around

75
Q

what is FFA?

A

the fusiform face area, this responds more strongly to the entire face rather than individual features

76
Q

what is perceptual constancy?

A

the ability to perceive objects as having constant shape, size and colour despite changes in perspective

77
Q

what allows us to have perceptual constancy?

A

our ability to make relative judgements about shape size and lightness

78
Q

how do we have shape constancy?

A

we judge the angle of the object relative to our position

79
Q

how do we have size constancy?

A

we make judgments of how close an object is relative to ones position as well as the positions of other objects

80
Q

how de we have colour constancy?

A

we recognize an objects colour under varying levels of illumination

81
Q

what does the dorsal stream do?

A

helps you locate an object in space and allows you to interact with it

82
Q

what is our ability to use vision to guide our actions dependant on?

A

our depth perception

83
Q

what are binocular depth cues?

A

distance cues that are based on the differing perspectives of both eyes

84
Q

what is convergence?

A

a binocular depth cue that occurs when the eye muscles contract so that both eyes focus on a single object

85
Q

when does convergence typically occur?

A

when objects are relatively close to you EG. moving finger tip towards you

86
Q

what is retinal disparity?

A

the difference in relative position of an object as seen by both eyes, which provides information to the brain about depth

87
Q

what is an example of retinal disparity?

A

if you hold a pen an arms length away from your body and close one eye then close that one and open the other the position changes due to the fact that we use info from both eyes to see

88
Q

what kind of vision do humans have?

A

stereoscopic vision

89
Q

what are monocular cues?

A

depth cues that we can perceive with only one eye

90
Q

what is accommodation?

A

when the lenses of your eyes curves to allow you to focus on nearby objects

91
Q

what is motion parallax?

A

it is used when you or your surroundings are in motion

92
Q

what is an example of motion parallax?

A

as you sit in a moving vehicle and look out of the passenger window, you will notice objects closer to you, such as the roadside or park cars appear to be moving rapidly in the opposite direction. but mountains and building in the distance appear to move slowly and in the same direction as your vehicle

93
Q

what are 6 techniques that artists can use to influence our visual perception?

A

linear perspective- stretching lines in to the horizon as they travel farther away

interposition- nearby objects block far away ones

light and shadow- the shadow cast by an object help us detect size and relative location of an object

texture and gradient- objects that are coarse and distinct at close range become fine and grant at distance

hight in plane- objects higher in our visual field are perceived as farther away

relative size- if 2 objects are known to be the same size, the larger of the two must be closer

intro psych (38 decks)

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