Lab 4

Question 1

How to test for two point discrimination

Answer 1

• subject is seated with eyes closed
• experimenter will separate points if a two point compass by 4cm
• gently touch the two points of the compass to the palm
• if subject reports being touched by two points,decrease distance of two points until subject believes they’re only being touched by one point
• now increase the distance and continue testing to determine the smallest possible distance the subject can perceive as two distinct points.

Question 2

Describe the relative size of the receptive field in diff regions

Answer 2

-fingers = receptors are less than a millimeter in diameter
-palm 3-8 mm
-side of nose 7mm
-back of hand 9mm
-back of neck are about about 36-75 mm
In areas like the palm and and fingers you can be very precise about the location of a stimulus
The larger the receptive field the poorer your ability to recognize a stimulus

Question 3

Why does density matter in tactile receptors

Answer 3

Because the ability to distinguish between one point or two points depend on how dense tactile receptors are in the area being touched.
-fingertips/palm have a higher density of tactile receptors than your back does

Question 4

Describe what is meant by receptor adaptation

Answer 4

The continuous stimulation of sensory receptors

Question 5

Receptors that are fast adapting are called

Answer 5

Phasic receptors

Question 6

Receptors that are slowly adapting are called

Answer 6

Tonic receptors

Question 7

How did we test phasic and tonic receptors in lab

Answer 7

With the subjects eyes closed we placed a coin on the anterior surface of the subjects forearm and determine how long the sensation persists

Question 8

Are the cutaneous receptors stimulates here phasic or tonic receptors explain your choice

Answer 8

They are phasic receptors because the response of the cell diminishes very quickly and then stops.

Question 9

Describe the Snellen eye chart is used to test visual activity

Answer 9

• Visual acuity refers to the ability to perceive a clear image.
• letters of different sizes and thickness are arranged on a chart
• our ability to recognize the letters from a distance tests our visual acuity.

Question 10

Describe how to test peripheral vision

Answer 10

• the subject places places the vision disk to their forehead and stares directly at the point in front of them.
• the subject moves the arm of the vision disk behind the subjects ear and selects a card to place in the arm of the vision disk
• slowly move the arm containing the card while ensuring your test subject keeps their eyes pointed straight ahead
• have your subject report when they can determine the shape and colour of an object

Question 11

Location of cones on retina and their function

Answer 11

• cones are located at the central fovea

- responsible for visual acuity and colour vision in bright light

Question 12

Location of rods on the retina and their function

Answer 12

• Rods are found in the outer edges of the retina and are used in the peripheral vision
• responsible for vision in dim light or at night

Question 13

Describe what is meant by the “blind spot” and how you observed it in lab ?

Answer 13

light striking the optic disc goes unnoticed because there are no photoreceptors in this area is commonly (the blind spot.)

• an area where the person is missing a visual image but an individuals brain uses that missing information to fill it.
• we observed our blind spots in class when holding a card that had an “x “and an “o” on it at arms length.
• we aligned the “x” on the card directly I front of our right eye and the “o” to the right
• covered our left eye and moved the card slowly towards our eye while concentrating on the “x”
• eventually the “o” disappears and becomes a continues straight line

Question 14

Describe what is meant by eye dominance

Answer 14

Eye dominance is the tendency to prefer visual input from one eye compared to the other

Question 15

What is stereopsis(depth perception)

Answer 15

-allows us to perceive the relative distance of objects from us.

Question 16

How do stereopsis and eye dominance relate to normal binocular vision

Answer 16

In order to have normal binocular vision we must be able to bias one input from one of the eyes(the dominant eye) aswell as be able to identify how far an object is from us (stereopsis)

Question 17

Describe how to test for colour blindness

Answer 17

• have an experimenter hold a book of test plates approximately 1m from the test subject
• start with plate #1 and proceed in the sequence to plate #17
• compare the responses of the test subject to information on the documents that accompany the set of test plates
• determine whether your test subject has normal vision or colour blindness

Question 18

What is protanopia, why can it be a hazard when driving?

Answer 18

A lack of red sensitive cones causing confusion of greens reds and yellows. Impacts a persons driving because they can’t accurately distinguish what colour each light is

Question 19

Describe how balance changes with age

Answer 19

Older people often have poor balance due to loss of muscle strength and reduced vision and reaction time.

Question 20

What is nerve deafness

Answer 20

Deafness resulting from damage to cochlea or cochlear nerve.

Ex(cochlear implants offer some hope to restoring some hearing to individuals with nerve deafness)

Question 21

What is conduction deafness

Answer 21

Deafness resulting from damage to the tympanic membrane

Ex(hearing aids can provide help to individuals with conduction deafness)

Question 22

Emmetropia

Answer 22

(normal vision) In the healthy eye, when the ciliary muscle is relaxed and the lens is flattened.

Question 23

Hyperopia

Answer 23

(Farsightedness)

Occurs if the eyeball is too shallow or the lens is too flat.resulting in objects nearby to look blurry

Question 24

Myopia

Answer 24

(nearsightedness) If the eyeball is too deep or the resting curvature of the lens is too great. The person will see distant objects as blurry and out of focus.

Question 25

20/10

Answer 25

Vision rated as 20/10 is better than average, because at 20 feet the person is able to see details clearly whereas people with good vision could only see it at a distance of 10 feet.

Question 26

20/100

Answer 26

Your visual acuity may be 20/100 if you have poor vision and lost your glasses. This means that you must be 20 feet to be able to see what someone with normal vision can see at 100 feet away.
-person may have myopia

Question 27

How to test for conduction deafness

Answer 27

The rinne test can be used to differentiate nerve deafness from conduction deafness

• individuals with normal hearing report the sound is louder in the air
• individuals with hearing loss will say the sound is louder when transmitted through the mastoid process(bony by no behind ear)

Question 28

Pain threshold

Answer 28

The time when pain was first felt

Question 29

Pain tolerance

Answer 29

The time when pain was too much and hand was removed from cold stimulus

Question 30

Describe the function of pain

Answer 30

To alert the body that injury has occurred and to avoid internal tissue damage . Using nociceptors, to send signals to the CNS

Question 31

Describe how balance was tested

Answer 31

Tested the difference with standing on one leg with eyes closed vs eyes open
Try balancing for 30 seconds
Results = harder with your eyes closed because you couldn’t use your eyes to stay oriented to the floor.

Question 32

What is deuteranopia

Answer 32

A lack of green sensitive cones