vision psych

wavelength

distance from the peak of one light/sound wave to peak of next

hue

dimension of color that is determined by wavelength of light

intensity

amount of energy in a light/sound wave, influences what we perceive as brightness/loudness

determined by waves amplitude

cornea

eye’s clear, protective outer layer, covering pupil and iris

pupil

adjustible opening in center of eye through which light enters

iris

ring of muscle tissue formed around colored portion of eye around the pupil

controls size of pupil opening

lens

transparent structure behind pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina

accommodation

process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus images of near/far objects on the retina

rods

retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray

sensitive to movement

necessary for peripheral and twilight vision when ____ don’t respond

cones

retinal receptors concentrated near center of retina

function in daylight/well-lit conditions

detect fine detail and color

optic nerve

nerve carrying neural impulses from eye to brain

blind spot

point at which optic nerve leaves the eye, creating _____ spot b/c no receptor cells exist there

fovea

central focal point in retina

cones cluster here

young-helmholtz trichromatic color theory

retina contains 3 different types of color receptors, RGB, which produce perception of any color together

opponent-process theory

opposing retinal processes enable color vision (r/g, b/y, w/b)

feature detectors

nerve cells in visual cortex that respond to certain features of stimulus, such as shape, angle, movement

parallel processing

processing multiple aspects of a stimulus/problem simultaneously