SENSATION AND PERCEPTION
VISION SENSORY AND PERCEPTUAL PROCESSING
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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Look directly at it because the rods can see sharply at night
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Look directly at it because the cones will focus better at night
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Look off to the side, using the rods in the periphery of the retina
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Look off to the side, using the cones in the periphery of the retina
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Detailed explanation-1: -Away from the centre are rod cells, which are responsible for black-and-white vision, and work better than the cone cells at low light levels. Looking off to one side allows more light from faint objects to strike the rod cells, and become visible to us.
Detailed explanation-2: -Your peripheral vision is far more sensitive than your direct vision. It’s not just stars either-if it gets dark enough, you can get to the point that you won’t see anything through direct vision while your peripheral vision is still capable of seeing objects.
Detailed explanation-3: -People will often see better in low light situations with their peripheral vision rather than looking straight with their central vision. This is largely due to the increase in rod density in the periphery which are more sensitive to light.
Detailed explanation-4: -Low-light, rods-only vision is called scotopic vision. An interesting fact is that because there are no rods in the fovea, you can see objects better in low-light conditions (e.g., faint stars) if you don’t look directly at them.
Detailed explanation-5: -However, when looking at a star in the night sky or other object in dim light, the object can be better viewed by the peripheral vision because it is the rods at the edges of the retina, rather than the cones at the center, that operate better in low light.