Essay Questions
1. Compare the human visual and auditory systems. What are their relative strengths and weaknesses?
Key Points:
- The student’s answer should make reference to the central issues that we have considered in this chapter, such as the level of spatial resolution, speed of response and the ability of light/sound to travel around corners vs. travel in a straight line.
- The student should consider the functional and evolutionary value of the visual and auditory systems, in terms of essential capacities such as locating food and possible predators, and in permitting interpersonal and social interaction.
- Further credit should be received if the student reflects on the capacity of the organism in the absence of these capacities (for example, in people who are born blind or deaf, or who lose the sense of vision or hearing at some point in their lives).
