Chapter 5: Vision Quiz

Which of the following would be easiest for someone who is motion blind?

dressing themselves

Visual information from the lateral geniculate area goes to the ___.

primary visual cortex

According to the trichromatic theory, we can perceive only three colors.

False

Which statement is TRUE with regard to peripheral vision?

It is easier to recognize single objects in the periphery that are not surrounded by other objects.

Why do humans perceive faint light better in the periphery of the eye?

More receptors in the periphery than in the fovea funnel input to each ganglion cell.

What is one way to determine whether a given cell in the primary visual cortex is "simple" or "complex"?

Whether it can respond equally to lines in more than one location

In comparison to cones, rods ___.

are more sensitive to dim light

Astigmatism refers to the ___.

asymmetric curvature of the eyes

What is the shape of the receptive field to which a simple cell in the primary visual cortex responds?

bar in a particular orientation

Once within the cerebral cortex, a mixed pathway of magnocellular and parvocellular cells is important for ___.

brightness and color

Damage to the dorsal stream may interfere with ___.

describing what is seen

In foveal vision, ___.

each ganglion cell is excited by a single cone

The law of specific nerve energy states that ___.

every stimulation of the optic nerve is perceived as light

Human newborns come into the world predisposed to pay more attention to ___ than any other stationary displays.

faces

The retinas of predatory birds such as hawks ___.

have a greater density of receptors than do humans at the top half of the retina

Which structure has the largest receptive fields and the greatest preferential sensitivity to highly complex visual patterns, such as faces?

inferior temporal cortex

Suppose someone has a genetic defect that prevents the formation of horizontal cells in the retina. Which visual phenomenon is most likely to be impaired?

lateral inhibition

The ability to detect movement better than color in our peripheral vision is largely due to ___.

magnocellular neurons in the periphery

Once information is sent to the secondary visual cortex, it ___.

may return to the primary visual cortex

Color and brightness constancy are best explained by the ___ theory of color vision.

retinex

The primary visual cortex sends its information ____.

to area V2

The fact that all colors on older televisions were created by combining three different colors of light supports the ___ theory of color vision.

trichromatic

The ability of some women to detect slightly finer discrimination in color than other women is most likely due to having ___.

two types of long-wavelength cones

The visual paths in the temporal cortex collectively are referred to as the ___.

ventral stream

Which receptors are responsible for the perception of color?

cones only