Visual perception Flashcards
How much of the cortex is concerned with vision?
25%
How much of the cortex is concerned with vision?
25%
Visible spectrum for humans
380-760nm
Retina
Photosensitive - converts light to electrical signals
Pupil
2-8mm changes 16x. Can detect anything from a few photons to bright sunlight
Lens
Accommodation, myopia and hypermetropia
Rods
120 million, contain rhodopsin on outer segments which isomerises and breaks down into retinene and opsin. Scotopic vision.
Cones
6-7 million, packed in fovea, size = 2 wavelengths of red light. Concerned with colour vision. 3 types: S, M, L (blue, green, red). Photopic vision.
Dark and light adaptation
Reflects photoreceptors - division of labour demonstrated by special sensitivity, purkinje shift (less sensitive to long wavelengths (red) when dark adapted)
What do photoreceptors synapse with?
Ganglion cell -> bipolar cell. Lateral connections via horizontal and amacrine cells.
Ganglion cells
Project via optic chasm to lateral geniculate nucleus and then to area 17 of occipital lobe
Experiment of hecht, pirenne and schlaer 1942: state of the subject
Dark adapted - 50% chance of rhodopsin molecule regenerating in 5 mins. Half life of recover is 5 mins. Virtually complete after 40 mins.
Experiment of hecht, pirenne and schlaer 1942: location of test flash
20 degrees to left of fixation point i.e. 20 degrees to right of fovea
Experiment of hecht, pirenne and schlaer 1942: size of test flash
10’ spot diameter. 300 rods connected to a single nerve fibre
Experiment of hecht, pirenne and schlaer 1942: colour of test flash
Wavelength of 510n (peak spectral sensitivity of rods)
Experiment of hecht, pirenne and schlaer 1942
Results 90 quanta is lowest light threshold, 3% reflected away at cornea, 50% absorbed by ocular media. only 20% are collected by rods. Hence 9/10 quanta sufficient. A typical torch radiates 2 x 10^15 per ms. Therefore, if 10 rods are activates, a single rod can be activated by a singe quantum
Experiment of hecht, pirenne and scholar 1942: subject variability
1200 million pigment molecules - only 10 have to change state - spontaneous isomerisation.
Techniques of studying infant vision
Forced-choice preferential looking - dis: no preference but still discriminate, adv - indicates what is important to infant
Infant controlled habituation/novelty
Physiological measures e.g. heart rate an Visual Evoked Potentials (VEPs)
Basic abilities of infant vision
Visual acuity, Contrast sensitivity
What limits poor vision in infants?
Accommodation is 1/3 adult level at 2 weeks old (Bookman, 1980). Eye is 1/2 size but good optics. Must be result of poor acuity - imposed by immaryurity of photoreceptors - 20fold increase in foveal cone density between infancy and adulthood
Colour vision in babies
Spectral sensitivity of babies similar to adults (Dobson, 1976)
Perception of pattern and form in babies
Preferences found at birth e.g. moving, high contrast, curved contours (Frantz and Miranda 1975) - prefer complexity and symmetry
Respond to external surround of a pattern (milewiski 1976)
Form discrimination present at birth - Slater, Morison and Roase 1983
Face perception in babies
3D, mobile, high contrast and regulate behaviour continent on baby’s activities.
Depth perception in babies - Visual Cliff of Gibson and Walk 1960
Infants 6-14 mo. Concluded depth vision is innate.