655-111 Vision: How The Eye Sees The World

Credit Points

HECS Band

Coordinator

Semester

Contact

Subject Description

This subject aims to provide an understanding of basic vision functions and visual perception. Topics to be covered include light, its measurement and quantification, the transmission characteristics of the eye and perceptual attributes; basic anatomy of the eye and visual pathways as they relate to visual perception and refractive error (near-sightedness, far-sightedness and astigmatism); and experimental approaches used to measure sensory modalities (i.e. threshold and suprathreshold psychophysical paradigms). Topics to include the fundamental attributes of our monocular processes such as the perception of colour, temporal (flicker) vision, form (spatial) vision and the space sense; and basic binocular function including the perception of depth and stereopsis. You will learn what '20/20 vision' means and why we perceive depth with the 'magic eye' pictures. Congenital and acquired visual anomalies will be used throughout the course to illustrate visual dysfunction.

Assessment

A 2-hour written examination at the end of semester (comprising a combination of multiple choice and written answers). Practical work will comprise 15% of the total mark.

Prescribed Texts

• S H Schwartz, Visual Perception: A Clinical Orientation. Appelton and Lange, 1994.