Chap 4.4 Topdown and bottom up processing, 4.5 attention, 4.6 light and the eye, 4.7 the retina cells

Top down processing

occurs when prior knowledge, and expectations guide what is perceived.

Bottom up processing:

construction a whole stimulus or concept from bits of raw sensory information

Selective attention

focus on ONE particular event or task

divided attention

involves paying attention to several stimuli/tasks at once
- self proclaimed multi taskers perform worse on cognitive test (distracting driving)

inattention blindness:

a failure to notice clearly visible events or objects because attention is directed elsewhere

amplitude

height of the wave

wavelength

distance between waves

the eye: sclera

white outer layer of the eye

the eye: cornea

clear layer that covers the front of the eye

the eye: pupil

regulates amount of light let into the eye

the eye: iris

round muscle that adjusts the size of the pupil

the eye: lens

clear structure that focuses light onto the back of eye.

Myopia (nearsighted)

focus point falls in front of retina
- lens and/ or cornea bends light too much or eyeball too long

hyperopia (farsightedness)

ideal focus point falls behind the retina
- cornea/ lens too rigid and fails to bend light enough or eyeball not to long enough

retina cells: cones

concentrated on fovea to produce high-detail, colour vision at our point of visual focus

retina cells: rods

on outer regions of retina provide peripheral vision and are specialized for low light conditions

retina cells: dark adaptation

the process by which rods and cones gain sensitivity to low light levels

bipolar neurons

synapse onto photoreceptors

ganglion cells

transmits signals from bipolar neurone to brain

optic nerve

axon tracts from ganglion cells leading to brain

optic disc

area on retina lacking rods and cones

rod/cones

interpreter, ntranslating energy into neutron