AP Psych: Unit 3 | Light and Vision (Sensation) | Difficulties in Visual Processing | Theories of Color Vision

apmlitude

height of a light wave-determines intensity/brightnes

wavelength

distance from one wave peak to the next-determines color

short wavelengths

high frequency-bluish colors

long wavelengths

low frequency-reddish colors

visual process

light wave-correa-iris-pupil-lens-retina-photoreceptors-bipolar cells-ganglion cells-optic nerve-optic disk-thalamus-occipital lobe

accomodation

the lens changes its curvature/thickness to focus the image based on it's location

nearsightedness

lens bends too much-image falls in front of the retina

farsightedness

lens doesn't bend enough-image falls behind the retina

photoreceptors

sensory receptors in the retina responsible for transduction

cones

color vision, helps us see in bright light

fovea

center of the retina, highest concentration of cones, greatest visual acuity (detail)

rods

detect white/black/grey, sensitive to movement/dim light

cones location in the retina

located in the center of the retina

rods location in the retina

located on the outer edge of the retina (peripheral vision)

bipolar cells

receive signals from photoreceptors, help us see/contrast edges

ganglion cells

axons of ganglion cells bundle together to form the optic nerve

optic disk

where the optic nerve leaves the eye

blindspot

where there are no rods/cones at the optic disk

feature detectors (in the visual cortex)

nerve cells that respond to specific features of stimulus such as shape, angle or movement

feature detector location

visual cortex

parallel processing (in the visual cortex)

processing multiple aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously

blindsight

where a person can respind to a visual stimulus without consioulsy expiriencing it

prosopagnosia

the inability to recognize human faces

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

the retina has three types of color receptors/cones (red, green, blue)

color blindness

lack of one of the three (in rare cases two) types of cones

dichromatism

only two cone types are functional

monochromatism

only one type of cone is functional

theory that color blindness supports

supports the Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

opponent process theory

color perception is determined by the activity of 3 opponent systems

3 opponent systems

yellow-blue, red-green, black-white

afterimages

an image that you continue to see even after you stop looking at the original image

theory that afterimages support

supports the opponent process theory