1. Hold one of your thumbs a few inches in front of your face. Then alternate looking at your thumb with only your left eye, and then only your right eye. What did you notice was happening to your thumb when you did this? What does this tell you about the image each eye receives? Do the same thing when looking at an object at the far end of the classroom (but not on the far wall). What happens when you alternate left and right eyes now? How is this different from when you did the same thing with your thumb? What does this tell you about a "rule" that your brain could use when judging the distance of an object?
2. Point your two index fingers towards each other with a small gap between them and hold them a few centimeters in front of your eyes. If you stare through your fingers towards the back wall, what image do you see? How is this situation similar to the one in question #1? In what way is it different? What happens when you move one of your fingers closer to you and then move it away from you? What do you think is happening at the level of the brain that is making this happen?
3. With both eyes open, make a small circle with your hand and look through that 'window' to an object at a far distance. Starting with your hand against your face, move your hand away from you while keeping the object in view in the window. Now alternate opening and closing your left and right eyes. What did you observe? What does this tell you about information in each of your eyes? Was the same effect observed by everyone in your seminar? What does this tell you about the effect? Given this effect, do you think there would be a difference in your reaction time to stimuli presented in the nasal (medial) part of your left eye compared to the temporal (lateral) part of your left eye? Why or why not? What about between the nasal part of your left eye and the temporal part of your right eye? Why/why not?
4. Find your favorite piece of artwork that has 3 pictorial/monocular depth cues (or any piece for that matter -that wasn't discussed in class). Alternatively, find 3 visual illusions that make use of monocular cues to give the illusion of depth. a) Include the art/illusion in your assignment and explain which cues are used to provide the perception/illusion of depth. b) Are these illusions/art affected by oculomotor cues? Why/Why not? c) Are these illusions/art affected by binocular cues? Why/why not?