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“At First Sight” Reflection
Katie Surratt
The movie "At First Sight" can be connected to several things we learned in Psychology. For example, Virgil, the blind man, picks up more on distinct smells and sounds than a person who can see. This shows brain plasticity because his brain has altered in structure and function in the other areas to compensate for loss of sight. He notices the echo of rain on the rooftop and can make a visualization of the shape of the room in his head. Also, he picks up on the cinnamon smell of Amy and uses that to describe her. Since he can't see when the environment changes, he can memorize the placement of everything in his house and all the buildings and trees outside by what he has been told. When his sight is first restored, he cannot recognize objects by sight because brain plasticity has taken over to cover that need. When he feels the object, it tells his brain what the object is and then the brain tells the eyes, which is known as sensory interaction, so he can learn to recognize objects with his new sense of sight. Also, he lacks a visual memory because he has been recognizing things without seeing for years so is unable to read. Towards the beginning of his sight being restored, Virgil, has to discover object permanence, which means that things exist even when they're not perceived, since he never learned that as a child because he couldn't see. Also, he discovers that the speed of objects seem to increase as they get closer. This can be seen in the scene where the man shows Virgil with his fist and also when Virgil tests it out for himself on the road when the cars come closer to him they seem to speed up. This is a monocular cue related to depth perception studied in Psychology and is known as the looming effect or optical expansion.
Katie Surratt
The movie "At First Sight" can be connected to several things we learned in Psychology. For example, Virgil, the blind man, picks up more on distinct smells and sounds than a person who can see. This shows brain plasticity because his brain has altered in structure and function in the other areas to compensate for loss of sight. He notices the echo of rain on the rooftop and can make a visualization of the shape of the room in his head. Also, he picks up on the cinnamon smell of Amy and uses that to describe her. Since he can't see when the environment changes, he can memorize the placement of everything in his house and all the buildings and trees outside by what he has been told. When his sight is first restored, he cannot recognize objects by sight because brain plasticity has taken over to cover that need. When he feels the object, it tells his brain what the object is and then the brain tells the eyes, which is known as sensory interaction, so he can learn to recognize objects with his new sense of sight. Also, he lacks a visual memory because he has been recognizing things without seeing for years so is unable to read. Towards the beginning of his sight being restored, Virgil, has to discover object permanence, which means that things exist even when they're not perceived, since he never learned that as a child because he couldn't see. Also, he discovers that the speed of objects seem to increase as they get closer. This can be seen in the scene where the man shows Virgil with his fist and also when Virgil tests it out for himself on the road when the cars come closer to him they seem to speed up. This is a monocular cue related to depth perception studied in Psychology and is known as the looming effect or optical expansion.