Reading Assignment Unit 4: Sensation Part 2 Due Fri. 10/31 BOO!

Bernstein Text Chapter 4, Part 2 – Pp. 117 -131 (through Synesthesia)

(10 pts): Due Friday, October, 31st

Follow the reading instructions you received the first week of class and take Cornell notes as you read. As you take your notes remember to DRAW DIAGRAMS of important images, write your own examples, write your own mnemonic devices and write questions you think of. Your notes (and your brain) should contain the answers the following questions when you are done with this assignment:

Light and Structure of the Eye Pp. 117-119
1. Describe the physical dimensions of light.
2. How do the physical properties of light relate to brightness and color?
3. How does visible light fit into the electromagnetic spectrum?
4. Describe and DRAW the major structures of the eye.
5. Describe the accessory structures and sensory receptor of the eye.
6. What is accommodation in vision?

Converting Light into Images & Visual Pathways Pp. 119 – 122
http://www.sumanasinc.com/webcontent/animations/content/receptivefields.html
The above link is to an excellent animation which may help you understand some of the more complex aspects of visual processing in the retina.

7. What is visual transduction and were does it take place?
8. What are photoreceptors and photopigments? Where are they located?
9. What causes your eyes to take time to adjust when you go from bright sunlight to a dark room? What is this adjustment called?
10. Compare the structure, function and distribution of rods and cones.
11. What is the fovea?
12. How does “lateral inhibition” improve the sharpness and contrast of our vision?
13. What do ganglion cells do? Why would vision be impossible without them?
14. How do ganglion cells correspond to the visual field?
15. Describe how the center-surround fields of ganglion cells improves vision.
16. Why does everyone have a blind spot?
17. Describe how the optic nerves separate and cross at the optic chiasm.
18. How is spatial coding demonstrated in the retina, the LGN and the visual cortex?
19. Explain how parallel processing can analyze different types of visual information from the same visual data in the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LGN.)
20. What are “feature detectors?”
21. Define the physical properties of color: hue, saturation and brightness.
22. Explain the “Trichromatic Theory of Color Vision.”
23. Explain the “Opponent-Process Theory of Color Vision.”
24. Describe and explain color blindness.
25. What is synesthesia?