Chapter 2

Question 1

Retinal ganglion cells

Answer 1

retinal cells providing the output signal from the retina

Question 2

retinopy

Answer 2

the notion that there is mapping between reeptor cells in the retina points on the surface of the visual cortex

Question 3

Receptive field

Answer 3

the region of the retina in which light influences the activity of a particular neron

Question 4

lateral inhibition

Answer 4

reduction of activity in one neuron caused by activity in a neighbouring neuron.

Question 5

Akinetopsia

Answer 5

a barin-demaged condition in which motion perception is severely impaired even though stationary objects are perceived reasonably well.

Question 6

Achromatopsia

Answer 6

a condition involving brain damage in which there is little or no colour perception but form and motion perception are relatively intact.

Question 7

Binding problem

Answer 7

the issue of integrating different types of information to produce cohherent perception

Question 8

allocentric coding

Answer 8

visual coding that is independent of the observer’s

perspective

Question 9

dorsal stream

Answer 9

the part of the visual processing system most involved

in visually guided action

Question 10

egocentric coding

Answer 10

visual coding that is dependent on the observer’s

perspective

Question 11

ventral stream

Answer 11

the part of the visual processing system involved in
object perception and recognition and the formation
of perceptual representations

Question 12

visual form agnosia

Answer 12

a condition in which there are severe problems in
shape perception (what an object is) but reasonable
ability to produce accurate visually guided actions

Question 13

optic ataxia

Answer 13

a condition in which there are problems with making
visually guided movements in spite of reasonably
intact visual perception

Question 14

dichromacy

Answer 14

a deficiency in colour vision in which one of the three

cone classes is missing

Question 15

negative afterimage

Answer 15

the illusory perception of the complementary colour to

the one that has just been fixated; green is the

Question 16

illuminant

Answer 16

a source of light illuminating a surface or object

Question 17

colour constancy

Answer 17

the tendency for an object to be perceived as having
the same colour under widely varying viewing
conditions

Question 18

chromatic adaptation

Answer 18

changes in visual sensitivity to colour stimuli when the

illumination alters

Question 19

binocular cues

Answer 19

cues to depth that require both eyes to be used

together

Question 20

binocular disparity

Answer 20

a depth cue based on the slight disparity in the two
retinal images when an observer views a scene; it is
the basis for stereopsis

Question 21

binocular rivalry

Answer 21

when two different visual stimuli are presented one to
each eye, only one stimulus is seen; the seen stimulus
alternates over time

Question 22

oculomotor cues

Answer 22

cues to depth produced by muscular contractions of
the muscles around the eye; use of such cues involves
kinaesthesia (also known as the muscle sense)

Question 23

monocular cues

Answer 23

cues to depth that can be used by one eye, but can
also be used by both eyes together
texture gradient
the rate of change of texture density from

Question 24

texture gradient

Answer 24

the rate of change of texture density from the front to

the back of a slanting object

Question 25

motion parallax

Answer 25

a depth cue based on movement in one part of the | retinal image relative to another

Question 26

vergence

Answer 26

a cue to depth based on the inward focus of the eyes | with close objects

Question 27

accommodation

Answer 27

a depth cue based on changes in optical power produced by thickening of the eye's lens when an observer focuses on close objects

Question 28

autostereogram

Answer 28

a complex two-dimensional image perceived as threedimensional when not focused on for a period of time

Question 29

tereopsis

Answer 29

depth perception based on the small discrepancy in the two retinal images when a visual scene is observed (binocular disparity)

Question 30

haptic

Answer 30

relating to the sense of touch

Question 31

body size effect

Answer 31

an illusion in which misperception of one's own bodily size causes the perceived size of objects to be misjudged

Question 32

size constancy

Answer 32

objects are perceived to have a given size regardless | of the size of the retinal image

Question 33

subliminal perception

Answer 33

perceptual processing occurring below the level of conscious awareness that can nevertheless influence behaviour

Question 34

blindsight

Answer 34

the ability to respond appropriately to visual stimuli in the absence of conscious visual experience in patients with damage to the primary visual cortex