PSYC 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Color Vision, Radiant Energy, Cornea

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100
• Professor: Jordan Poppenk

Document Summary

The adequate stimulus for vision is light. Light is a form of electromagnetic energy that is made up of particles called photons. Colour or hue that we see depends on the wavelength or frequency of light, and the brightness we see depends on the intensity of light. Photons travel in waves, have 2 main characteristics - wavelength and amplitude. Light that is visible to humans has wavelengths that range from. 400 to 700 nm (billionth of a meter) - number of nm from one crest to the next of a light wave. Wavelength is related to the psychological perception of colour (i. e. 400 nm appears as violet, 700 nm appears as red) Amplitude is the height from a crest (top) to a trough (bottom) of the light wave, which corresponds to the psychological property of brightness (higher amplitude is perceived as brighter)