Glossary / Lexicon

Vision refers to the process by which light stimuli are transformed into neural signals that produce the experience of sight. This process involves both the physiological mechanisms of the eyes and the interpretative functions of the brain. Vision is not just about seeing; it's about interpreting and understanding the visual world. In psychology, the study of vision encompasses not only how visual information is processed but also how it influences human behavior, cognition, and perception.

Key Aspects of Vision:

• Visual Perception: The interpretation of visual stimuli, which involves recognizing shapes, colors, depth, and movement. This process is critical for navigating environments, recognizing faces, and performing tasks that require visual-spatial abilities.
• Color Vision: The ability to distinguish colors, which is mediated by cone cells in the retina that are sensitive to different wavelengths of light.
• Depth Perception: The ability to perceive the world in three dimensions and judge the distance of objects, which is essential for tasks like driving, sports, and moving through complex environments.
• Visual Attention: The process by which individuals focus on specific visual stimuli while ignoring others, allowing for the efficient processing of relevant information.
• Visual Memory: The ability to store and recall visual images, which plays a role in learning, recognition, and navigation.

Application Areas:

• Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry: Addressing visual processing disorders, such as amblyopia (lazy eye) and visual agnosia, and understanding how visual impairments impact mental health.
• Cognitive Psychology: Studying how vision influences cognitive processes like memory, attention, and problem-solving.
• Developmental Psychology: Examining how visual capabilities develop from infancy through adulthood and the factors that influence this development.
• Neuropsychology: Investigating the brain mechanisms underlying vision, including the study of specific brain regions involved in visual processing.

Well-Known Examples:

• Gestalt Principles of Visual Perception: Theories that describe how people tend to organize visual elements into groups or unified wholes when certain principles are applied, such as similarity, proximity, closure, and continuity.
• The Visual Cliff Experiment: A study on depth perception in infants that demonstrated their ability to perceive depth and fear of heights.

Challenges and Risks:

• Visual Impairments: Conditions that limit vision can affect development, learning, and daily functioning. Addressing these requires specialized interventions and support.
• Visual Illusions: Phenomena where the perception of a visual stimulus differs from reality, illustrating the complex nature of visual processing and the brain's interpretation mechanisms.

Articles with 'Vision' in the title

• APA Division: APA Division refers to the subdivision of the American Psychological Association that focuses on (1) understanding the etiology and promotion and maintenance of health - (2) preventing, diagnosing, treating, and rehabilitating physical and . . .
• Clinical supervision: Clinical supervision refers to an intensive, interpersonally focused relationship in which one person is designated to facilitate the development of therapeutic competence in one or more other persons
• Color vision deficiency: Color vision deficiency refers to the inability to perceive color differences as most other people do
• Consultation, supervision, and collaboration: Consultation, supervision, and collaboration: Consultation, supervision, and collaboration refers to the use of clinical supervision, clinical consultation, medical consult, referral, co-therapists, conjoint treatment, and other . . .
• Current Procedural Terminology Division (CPT) Manual: Current Procedural Terminology Division (CPT) Manual refers to the American Medical Association ’s policy specifying billing codes designed to capture behavioral services provided to patients to address physical health problems
• Division 38: Division 38 refers to the Division of Health Psychology of the American Psychological Association (APA) that recently celebrated 25 years of existence
• Division of labor: Division of labor refers to the situation in which each person performs one narrow, highly specialized job in the culture - splitting the activities needed to accomplish a task between participants
• Intensive-supervision probation (ISP): Intensive-supervision probation (ISP) is defined as an alternative to prison for convicted non-violent offenders who do not qualify for routine probation
• Night Vision Devices: Night Vision Devices is defined as devices used to see in the dark by using available light
• Opponent-process theory of color vision: Opponent-process theory of color vision refers to a theory originally proposed by Hering, which claimed that human perception of color is determined by the activity of two ("9 opponent mechanisms: a blue–yellow mechanism and a red– . . .
• Peripheral vision: Peripheral vision is the vision at the edges of the visual field.
• Revision: Revision in the context of psychology refers to the process of reevaluating and making changes to one's thoughts, behaviors, or beliefs with the goal of improving mental health and well-being
• Trichromatic theory of color vision: Trichromatic theory of color vision: Trichromatic theory of color vision : Trichromatic Theory of color vision is a Theory proposing that our perception of color is determined by the ratio of activity in three (3) receptor mechanisms with . . .
• Young-Helmholtz theory of color vision: Young-Helmholtz theory of color vision: Young-Helmholtz theory of color vision states that separate receptor systems on the retina are responsive to each of the three primary colors: red, green, and blue-violet

Weblinks

• industrie-lexikon.de: 'Vision' in the industrie-lexikon.de (German)

Summary:

Vision is a fundamental aspect of human psychology, influencing how individuals perceive, interact with, and make sense of their environment. It encompasses a range of processes from the basic detection of light to the complex interpretation of visual scenes. Understanding vision is crucial for multiple fields within psychology, offering insights into human behavior, cognitive processes, and the underlying neural mechanisms.