sensation/perception phenomenon

Start the assignment with, “For my sensation/perception phenomenon this week I chose (fill in the name of the phenomenon) _________” and then go on to give a brief description of who the phenomenon works (don’t dwell here–we can all read the details in the textbook or in an article–just provide enough so we understand what happens with the phenomenon) and describe your everyday example of the occurrence of the phenomenon and how it could have serious consequences. The phenomenon can be one occurring in persons not suffering any pathology (like the example below–pretty much everybody experiences what happens to our ability to differentiate colors and their brightness around dusk…it’s not abnormal at all) or it can be the result of a disorder or injury. And of course, the phenomenon won’t always be about vision.

Finally, while it’s expected that more than one person might pick the same phenomenon — we have lots of them to work with but the number is not infinite — if you repeatedly only select what others have already done or your post essentially replicates the work of another student has already posted points won’t be assigned and a pattern of doing so will void your forum points, as will a pattern of posting work that isn’t instructions compliant.

This week’s example: In the 1800s, Mathia Plotz was painting a military portrait and noted that some features of the uniform appeared to change colors and the colors became less distinguishable from one another toward dusk. Plotz had experienced something called the “Purkinje Effect” in which the ability to distinguish brightness of colors, particularly red and blue, diminishes as the colors darken. Toward dusk there would be less light and the colors of the uniforms of Plotz’s portrait subjects would grow less distinct as the light around him darkened near the end of the day. Being able to distinguish uniform colors may only impact Plotz’s ability to produce accurate and attractive portraits (he either needed to paint in better light or be able to lay down paint in ways that accurately captured the subdued, murkiness of the dusk viewing experience–if you’ve ever seen an artist attempt to paint an evening scene and fail because the color selections and contrasts weren’t right, you know what is meant here is that paintings are supposed to, but don’t always successfully, replicate an evening versus bright light of day viewing experience via color brightness and contrast), something that might affect his livelihood, but trouble seeing uniform colors and distinguishing uniforms from other objects in one’s world also could have very serious implications! You may find it difficult to see an enemy soldier in hiding toward dusk or you may have trouble telling enemies from friendlies during a dusk raid or battle.