An Introduction to Visual Perception

About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about perception psychology, focusing in particular on: (i) defining perception through either a biological or cognitive approach; (ii) the biological structure of our eye, specifically the retina, which allows us to process both achromatic (using rod cells) and chromatic (using cone cells) light; (iii) the location and volume of the visual processing areas of the brain; (iv) the functional segregation of the visual processing systems, including the primary visual cortex.

About the lecturer

Dr Alex Mitchell is a teaching fellow in the Department of Psychology at the University of Edinburgh. Dr Mitchell specialises in understanding human vision, specifically how what we see, as well as how changes in the brain caused by damage or neurodegeneration, affects how we interact with our world, using numerous brain-scanning technologies to complete her research, including fMRI and MEG. Some of Dr Mitchell's recent publications include 'Pseudoneglect is reliable across time but not task’' (2020), 'Assessment of visually guided reaching in prodromal Alzheimer’s disease: a cross-sectional study protocol' (2020), and 'Peripheral reaching in Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment' (2022).