Visual short-term memory (VSTM) was probed while observers performed smooth pursuit eye movements. Smooth pursuit keeps a moving object stabilized in the fovea. VSTM capacity for position was reduced during smooth pursuit compared with a condition with eye fixation. There was no difference between a condition in which the items were approximately…

Johns Hopkins researchers at the Wilmer Eye Institute have discovered what appears to be the first human gene mutation that causes extreme farsightedness. The researchers report that nanophthalmos, Greek for "dwarf eye," is a rare, potentially blinding disorder caused by an alteration in a gene called MFRP that helps control eye growth and…

Educational technology units must continually monitor their strategic plans to ensure that they are aligned with the realities of their institutions. Strategic dissonance occurs when previously successful strategies are no longer achieving the same positive outcomes. The Virtual Retina CD-ROM project is used in this paper as an example of…

Describes an apparatus which demonstrates the operation of the human eye. (SL)

A model is described to suggest how the visual system may keep track of perceived objects as their images move on the retina. (Author)

Discussed is the nature of a central scotoma, or decreased central vision, and described are current techniques for training an individual to use the peripheral retina. (Author/IM)

Presents a demonstration to show the formation of images in the retina in normal vision, in farsightedness, and in nearsightedness using only a 35mm slide projector. (MKR)

Evaluated is the treatment of diabetic retinopathy (blindness due to ruptured vessels of the retina as a side effect of diabetes), and described is a research project comparing two types of photocoagulation treatment. (DB)

Reviews research done on the nature of vision from a neurologic perspective. Proposes a multiplex filter model to explain patterns in the signals transmitted to the brain from the retina. Describes experiments done to test the model. (CW)

Shawn Brixey's "Altimira" is a decidedly strange work of art--so strange that he has not, to date, put it on public display. He turns on a device, housed in a basketball-size glass chamber, and it converts rapidly pulsating radio signals emanating from pulsars--collapsed stars that spin violently, sweeping their poles like lighthouses…

Explains a laboratory experiment dealing with the optical features of the human eye. Shows how to measure the magnification of the retina and the refractive anomaly of the eye could be used to measure the refractive power of the observer's eye. (GA)

Three experiments report additional evidence that it is a mistake to account for all interletter effects solely in terms of sensory variables. These experiments attest to the importance of structural variables such as retina location, array size, and ordinal position. (Author/PN)

An audio/tactile course enables blind college students to understand the anatomy of the human brain. Models were designed which allow tactile exploration of the visual fields, retina, optic nerves, and the subdivisions of the tracts and radiations in the brain. (Author/PHR)

Describes inexpensive method of determining harmonic content of a repetitive signal such as a sound wave and demonstrations of the precession of a bicycle wheel and inversion shadows on the retina. Also describes a resonance demonstrator (made from scrap material) driven by a portable jigsaw. (JN)

Shows that visual acuity is a function of the structure of the eye and that its limit is set by the structure of the retina, emphasizing the role of lens aberrations and difraction on image quality. Also compares human vision with that of other vertebrates and insects. (JN)