Author Archives: Benjamin Andrew Menet

No need for worry

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For my one psychology class I am required to participate in research hours.  One study I did required me to view many different patters of stimuli while they measured my brainwave activity.  Before beginning the experiment they researchers wanted to test my vision to make sure I could see the stimuli on the computer screen.  I began by using the tests we used in class to check for colorblindness.  I was able to detect the number present in each of the patterns, so I am not colorblind.  After that I was asked to read the letters on the chart that is used by doctors to test our vision, something I am sure everyone has had to do before.   Whenever I was required to do this before I had no issues, and was told I had 20/20 vision. With both eyes it was very easy for me to read the bottom line with the smallest letters.   Next, I was asked to cover my left eye and attempt to do the same thing.  I was able to do this without any difficulty as well.  Then I had to cover my right eye and read with only my left.  For the first time in my life I couldn’t do it.  Everything was slightly blurry so I was not able to determine what letters were there.  At first I was concerned, I was wondering if my vision was getting worse, but then they told me that there was no problem at all.  My vision with my right eye was 20/16, my left eye was 20/20, and together they gave me 20/20 vision.  Before I was very confused by what this meant, but with what we learned in class I was able to make sense of this.  20/20 vision means my vision is what it should be.  I can see from 20 feet what I should be able to.  20/10 vision in my right eye means I can see from 20 feet what most other people can only see from 10 feet away.  What we learned in class made me realize there was no need for concern with my left eye being weaker than my right eye.

Vision issues

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Vision problems are not an uncommon issue in people all around you.  Nearly everywhere you look you can see people wearing glasses, and many people around us are wearing contact lenses to correct their vision problem.  A trend that is gaining increased popularity lately is Lasik eye surgery.  This surgery corrects the vision problem and can eliminate people’s need for glasses or contacts.  Both my mom and brother have had a history of vision problems.  My mother underwent the corrective surgery and now has no need for glasses, but my brother’s issues are so extreme that the surgery cannot be performed on him, so he is still using contact lenses.

I have always been curious as to why some people have issues with near vision, or far vision.  With what I have learned through my psychology class that focuses on perception, these issues come from a result of the length of the eyeball.  My mother and brother both have issues with hyperopia.  Hyperopia is another name for the condition many people know as farsightedness.  With this issue people can see distant object clearly, but struggle focusing on objects that are close to them.  This occurs due to the eyeball being too short.  The close object is focused behind the retina.  The retina is a very important part of the eye that is used for receiving light that comes through the eye’s lens.  This then focuses the light and relays it to the brain to form the visual picture.  Due to the eyeball being too short, the focus point of the close object is behind the retina, causing it to be blurred.  Many people also struggle with myopia, nearsightedness. People with this condition can clearly see objects that are close to them, but have issues seeing objects that are in the distance. Myopia occurs when the eyeball is too long.  The focus point of the light of the distant object is in front of the retina.

Glasses or contacts can be used to change the focus point of these objects as they reach the inner eyeball.  In order to process the light clearly the focus point must be at the retina.  These issues will never fully disappear, but with the progression of science and technology this issues may be much easier to overcome.