AP11804

Science Summary Psychologist Jessica Wang and colleagues at the University of Birmingham, using an experimental research method, conducted a study to see how adults and children alike tend to overestimate how much information could be processed by vision. In their experiment, participants were given boxes with an object inside and told that different characteristics (i.e. color, temperature, and weight) of the object could only be accessed certain ways. Next, participants were given photos of a man demonstrating those actions and were asked by the researchers if the man would know the objects temperature if he performed of the actions, and so on. While the participants answered the questions, researchers would take note of how long it took the subjects to respond. What they, the researchers, discovered was that when asked if the man could see the objects weight or temperature, the subjects hesitated before responding. Dr. Wang's conclusion was that adults, like children, rely so much on their vision that it can sometimes influence other senses like touch and taste (University of Birmingham). The eye contains two optic nerves, which carry visual information to the primary visual cortex, where it is then processed (Wood, 75). The neurons that are found in the primary cortex are known as feature detectors, meaning that they only respond to specific patterns and shapes (Wood, 76). As a result, humans are able to perceive whole images instead of bits and pieces of them. However, this does not necessarily mean that vision interferes with other sense perceptions. While Dr. Wang and her colleagues noticed a correlation between visual perception and reality, more research needs to be done in order to confirm that there is indeed a relationship between the two. As stated in Barrett’s Law #7, correlation is not causation.

References: Wang JJ, Diana Miletich D, Ramsey R, & Samson D (2014). Adults see vision to be more informative than it is. Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)

Wood, Samuel E., Ellen R. Green. Wood, and Denise Roberts. Boyd. //Mastering the World of Psychology//. Fourth ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2011. Print.

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