Deck 3: Spatial Vision: From Spots to Stripes

Question 1

The difference in illumination between a figure and its background is known as

A) contrast.
B) definition.
C) visual angle.
D) surround.
E) brightness.

Answer 1

contrast.

Question 2

During a foggy day, what aspect of visual acuity has been reduced?

A) Spatial frequency
B) Contrast
C) Visual angle
D) Resolution
E) Orientation

Answer 2

Contrast

Question 3

Spatial frequency refers to the

A) flicker rate of a grating.
B) distance between the observer and a grating.
C) amount of contrast in a room.
D) contrast threshold.
E) number of cycles of a grating per unit of visual angle.

Answer 3

number of cycles of a grating per unit of visual angle.

Question 4

The spatial frequency of a stimulus is measured in

A) Snellen units.
B) angles per degree.
C) cycles per second.
D) degrees per second.
E) cycles per degree.

Question 5

The _______ function describes how spatial frequency and contrast interact to make a grating more or less visible.

A) spatial frequency
B) contrast sensitivity
C) spatial layout
D) grating positioning
E) visual angle

Question 6

Visual angle is a measure of the

A) actual size of an object.
B) perceived size of an object.
C) angle between the observer and an object.
D) object's contrast divided by its spatial frequency.
E) size an object takes up on the retina.

Question 7

Which manipulation would cause the visual angle of a balloon to increase?

A) Moving the balloon farther away
B) Rotating the balloon
C) Inflating the balloon
D) Deflating the balloon
E) Inverting the balloon

Question 8

The smallest spatial detail that can be resolved at 100% contrast is known as

A) sharpness.
B) spatial frequency.
C) acuity.
D) visual angle.
E) phase.

Question 9

Eye doctors specify acuity in terms like "20/20," but vision scientists prefer to talk about the smallest _______ of a cycle of a grating that one can perceive.

A) sine wave
B) segment
C) visual angle
D) viewing distance
E) width

Question 10

If somebody has 20/100 vision, this means

A) they see at 20 feet what a person with normal vision sees at 100 feet.
B) they see at 100 feet what a person with normal vision sees at 20 feet.
C) they see only 20/100 (or 1/5^th) as well as a person with normal vision.
D) only 20 out of 100 people have vision as poor as theirs.
E) only 20 out of 100 people have vision better than theirs.

Question 11

_______ is the smallest amount of contrast required to detect a pattern.

A) Spatial frequency
B) Visual acuity
C) Luminance threshold
D) Contrast threshold
E) Activation threshold

Question 12

Refer to the graph.
What does the "visible" region in the graph refer to?

A) Acuity
B) The visibility of any object whose spatial frequencies and contrasts fall within it
C) The degree to which one can see from a distance of 20 feet
D) The lowest contrast one can distinguish
E) The distance at which an eye chart should be readable to a normal observer

Question 13

Scientists study contrast sensitivity for sine wave gratings because

A) patterns of stripes with fuzzy boundaries are common in the real world.
B) the eye is especially sensitive to sine wave gratings.
C) sine wave gratings involve no shadows.
D) sine wave gratings are easy to study.
E) contrast sensitivity is easy to study.

Question 14

_______ is a mathematical procedure by which a signal can be separated into component sine waves at different frequencies. Combining these sine waves will reproduce the original signal.

A) Fourier analysis
B) Signal detection theory
C) Weber's law
D) Fechner's law
E) Stevens' power law

Question 15

The distance required for one full cycle of a repeating waveform is its

A) phase.
B) sign.
C) amplitude.
D) wavelength.
E) angle.

Question 16

In a referee's uniform, the number of white and black stripes per inch could be considered its

A) phase.
B) spatial frequency.
C) amplitude.
D) wavelength.
E) angle.

Question 17

Refer to the figure showing the responses (right) of an ON-center retinal ganglion cell to gratings of different spatial frequencies (left).
The retinal ganglion cell depicted is most responsive to which spatial frequency?

A) Low frequency (top)
B) Medium frequency (middle)
C) High frequency (bottom)
D) Both low and high frequencies (top and bottom)
E) All frequencies equally (top, middle, and bottom)

Question 18

Each retinal ganglion cell responds not only to spots of light but also to certain

A) fields of uniform gray.
B) circles of uniform gray.
C) squares of uniform gray.
D) patterns of stripes.
E) motion directions.

Question 19

Refer to the figure.
The retinal ganglion cell pictured here would respond most strongly to which of the phases of the sine wave grating?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) The ganglion cell would respond equally well to all of these.

Question 20

The axons of retinal ganglion cells synapse in the two

A) magnocellular layers.
B) parvocellular layers.
C) cortexes.
D) koniocellular layers.
E) lateral geniculate nuclei.

Question 21

Which neurons are found in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN)?

A) Magnocellular only
B) Parvocellular only
C) Koniocellular only
D) Magnocellular and parvocellular only
E) Magnocellular, parvocellular, and koniocellular

Question 22

If two objects appear near each other in the world, they will also be processed by cells near each other

A) on the retina only.
B) in the LGN only.
C) in striate cortex only.
D) in the LGN and striate cortex only.
E) on the retina, in the LGN, and in the striate cortex.

Question 23

Topographical mapping is the

A) layout of the brain.
B) guide to the structures of the brain.
C) orderly mapping of the world in the LGN and visual cortex.
D) simultaneous mapping of two objects in the visual system.
E) mapping of gyri and sulci in the brain.

Question 24

The right visual field projects to the _______ half of each eye and then is analyzed by the LGN in the _______ hemisphere.

A) left; left
B) left; right
C) right; left
D) right; right
E) upper; lower

Question 25

Refer to the figure.
In the figure, the right LGN contains information from the

A) left visual field.
B) right visual field.
C) right eye.
D) left eye.
E) magnocellular layer.

Question 26

Each of the following are different names for the same structure except

A) area V1.
B) primary visual cortex.
C) LGN.
D) striate cortex.
E) area 17.

Question 27

Cortical magnification is the _______ devoted to a specific region in the visual field.

A) topographical map
B) amount of cortical area
C) amount of blood
D) number of photoreceptors
E) amount of retinal area

Question 28

Which object would have the most neurons responding to it in striate cortex, and why?

A) An object in the periphery, because the periphery has greater cortical magnification than the fovea.
B) An object in the periphery, because the fovea has greater cortical magnification than the periphery.
C) An object in the fovea, because the periphery has greater cortical magnification than the fovea.
D) An object in the fovea, because the fovea has greater cortical magnification than the periphery.
E) An object in the periphery, because objects in the fovea are not processed by the striate cortex.

Question 29

If you look into somebody's eyes, which part of their face is being processed by the fewest cells in striate cortex, based on the principles of topographic mapping and cortical magnification?

A) Chin
B) Nose
C) Mouth
D) Eyebrows
E) Eyes

Question 30

The deleterious effect of clutter on peripheral object recognition is known as

A) clutter induced blindness.
B) lateral agnosia.
C) horizontal masking.
D) visual noise.
E) visual crowding.

Question 31

Suppose you are looking for your friend's face in a crowd. Due to visual clutter, it will be hardest to identify her if she is standing

A) by herself and is in your central vision.
B) between two people and is in your central vision.
C) by herself and is in your peripheral vision.
D) between two people and is in your peripheral vision.
E) between three people and is in your central vision.

Question 32

Hubel and Wiesel uncovered some important properties of the _______ of neurons in the striate cortex.

A) photoreceptors
B) neurotransmitters
C) axons
D) dendrites
E) receptive fields

Question 33

Which stimulus would a striate cortex neuron respond to most vigorously?

A) An oriented bar of light
B) A filled circle of light
C) A spot of light surrounded by a ring of darkness
D) A spot of darkness surrounded by a ring of light
E) A spot of darkness on a field of light

Question 34

A neuron that allows the passage of some frequencies and blocks the passage of others is a

A) selector cell.
B) ganglion cell.
C) filter.
D) bipolar cell.
E) contrast cell.

Question 35

Which term refers to the fact that striate cortex neurons tend to respond more strongly to stimuli presented in one eye as compared to the other?

A) Cortical magnification
B) Ocular dominance
C) Filtering
D) End stopping
E) Orientation tuning

Question 36

The tendency of neurons in striate cortex to respond optimally to certain orientations and less to others is known as

A) spatial frequency.
B) spatial selection.
C) orientation tuning.
D) cortical magnification.
E) orientation agnosia.

Question 37

Refer to the figure.
This figure shows

A) how images end up on the retina.
B) the firing patterns of four cells.
C) how cortical simple cells get their orientation tuning.
D) how simple cells and complex cells interact.
E) how magnocellular and parvocellular cells interact.

Question 38

A _______ cell is a neuron whose receptive field does not have clearly defined excitatory and inhibitory regions.

A) complex
B) simple
C) stop
D) ganglion
E) blob

Question 39

________ is the phenomenon in which a striate cortex neuron responds most strongly when a bar of light fills its receptive field rather than being either smaller than the receptive field or extending beyond it.

A) Cortical magnification
B) End stopping
C) Ocular dominance
D) Filtering
E) Orientation tuning

Question 40

Refer to the figure.
What phenomenon does the figure demonstrate?

A) Cortical magnification
B) Ocular dominance
C) Filtering
D) End stopping
E) Orientation tuning

Question 41

Hubel and Wiesel concluded that neurons with similar orientation preferences were arranged in _______ that extended vertically through the cortex.

A) horizontal tracks
B) branches
C) rows
D) tangles
E) columns

Question 42

A _______ is a 1-mm block of striate cortex containing two sets of columns, each covering every possible orientation (0-180 degrees), with one set preferring input from the left eye and the other set preferring input from the right eye.

A) V1 module
B) hypercolumn
C) CO blob
D) simple cell
E) complex cell

Question 43

_______ is an enzyme used to reveal the regular array of CO blobs, which are spaced about 0.5 mm apart in the primary visual cortex.

A) Chromophore
B) Rhodopsin
C) Cytochrome oxidase
D) Carbon dioxide
E) Carbon monoxide

Question 44

Which aspect of a visual stimulus do neurons in CO blobs process?

A) Blur
B) Orientation
C) Spatial frequency
D) Motion
E) Color

Question 45

The diminishing response of a sense organ to a sustained stimulus is referred to as

A) constant stimulation.
B) response decrease.
C) adaptation.
D) accommodation.
E) convergence.

Question 46

The tilt aftereffect is the perceptual illusion of tilt, produced by

A) adapting to a pattern of a given orientation.
B) changing the direction of gaze.
C) tilting the head.
D) constantly moving the head.
E) spinning in circles for 30 seconds.

Question 47

No single neuron receives input from both eyes until the

A) LGN.
B) primary visual cortex.
C) parietal lobe.
D) magnocellular layer.
E) parvocellular layer.

Question 48

Spatial frequency channels are often referred to as

A) a set of simple cells.
B) a set of complex cells.
C) orientation tuned cells.
D) filters.
E) pattern analyzers.

Question 49

If a movie projector is out of focus and the images on the screen are blurry, which spatial frequencies are missing?

A) Low frequencies
B) High frequencies
C) Horizontal frequencies
D) Vertical frequencies
E) Diagonal frequencies

Question 50

In a line drawing of an object, which spatial frequencies are least represented?

A) Low frequencies
B) High frequencies
C) Horizontal frequencies
D) Vertical frequencies
E) Diagonal frequencies

Question 51

What term describes a phase in the life span during which abnormal early experience can alter normal neuronal development?

A) Impressionable era
B) Sensitive phase
C) Ontologically sensitive era
D) Critical period
E) Delicate span

Question 52

_______ is a developmental disorder characterized by reduced spatial vision in an otherwise healthy eye, even with proper correction for refractive error.

A) Astigmatism
B) Anisometropia
C) Strabismus
D) Amblyopia
E) Hyperopia

Question 53

_______ is a misalignment of the two eyes such that a single object in space is imaged on the fovea of one eye and on the nonfoveal area of the other (turned) eye.

A) Astigmatism
B) Anisometropia
C) Strabismus
D) Amblyopia
E) Hyperopia

Question 54

_______ is a condition in which the two eyes have different refractive errors.

A) Astigmatism
B) Anisometropia
C) Strabismus
D) Amblyopia
E) Hyperopia

Question 55

Which experimental technique is used to determine which stimuli infants can and cannot see?

A) Signal detection
B) Method of constant stimuli
C) Preferential looking paradigm
D) Method of adjustment
E) Method of limits

Question 56

If an infant looks longer at a striped square than a gray square, what does that indicate?

A) The infant's visual acuity is high enough that they can perceive the stripes, and they are attracted to low contrast images.
B) The infant's visual acuity is high enough that they can perceive the stripes, and they are attracted to high contrast images.
C) The infant's visual acuity is too low to perceive the stripes, but they do not like to look at gray squares.
D) The infant's visual acuity is high enough that they can perceive the gray square, and they are repelled by gray squares.
E) You can't learn anything about infant perception based on where they like to look.

Question 57

Describe two ways that visual acuity can be measured.

Question 58

Why do vision scientists study sine wave gratings?

Question 59

What is the difference between simple and complex cortical neurons in primary visual cortex?

Question 60

What is a "hypercolumn" in primary visual cortex?

Question 61

Describe the receptive field properties of retinal ganglion cells, LGN cells, and V1 cells. In what ways are they similar and in what ways are they different? How do the response properties of the cells change from retina to LGN to V1?

Question 62

Describe how selective adaptation works and why it is useful for studying visual perception.

Question 63

Describe the development of contrast sensitivity in infants and how it might be affected by developmental disorders such as amblyopia, strabismus, or anisometropia.