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Low Vision Laboratory Assignment

Kimberly Webb-Zimmerman

Department of Psychology, University of Utah

PSY 3150: Sensation and Perception

Dr. Sarah Creem-Regehr

March 27th, 2022

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Visual perception is one of the most fundamental ways we perceive the world around us

and process our environment; many researchers argue that it is the most crucial sense that

contributes to our environmental processing (Myers et al., 2019). Visual perception seems to be

the grounding point of how we experience the world (Eimer, 2004). Because we rely so heavily

on vision, it can be quite disorienting for us to try and navigate our environments without it. To

better understand the deficits and challenges that come with a lack of vision, I spent some time

trying to function without it.

Earlier this week, with the help of my husband, I spent two hours suppressing my sense

of sight. I first wanted to see how I could function within our home. I didn't want to spend this

time doing something that didn't require visual processing, like sitting on my couch and listening

to a podcast. Baking is one of my favorite activities, so I decided that, with the help of my

husband, I wanted to try and make homemade brownies. As I was still adjusting to a lack of

sight, he measured the ingredients but left everything else up to me.

In many ways, this was a much easier endeavor than I had anticipated. I found it

relatively easy to orient myself to the kitchen and navigate it. I was surprised to find that I could

even go through my fridge and find different ingredients for myself. I generally use a stand mixer

while baking but found it easier to mix the ingredients by hand. I could even tell when I'd

thoroughly combined the ingredients based on consistency alone.

Other tasks were more frustrating. I had to relinquish some of the control, like measuring

and using the oven, to my husband. I also was much more hesitant than I usually am. As I

reached for my sink, I realized that I had my hand on our knife block. After this experience, I

was much more tentative with my movements. While adding ingredients to a bowl, I dumped a
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bag of cocoa powder all over myself and the floor, something that I didn't even realize until my

husband pointed it out to me!

After becoming reasonably accustomed to navigating my home environment without

sight, I wanted to try and take on the outside world. My husband put the leash on our dog, and

we set out to take him on a walk. My dog and I take the same route every day. I thought that the

familiarity of this area, and the fact that walking is an easier task than baking, would make my

experience in the outside world much more manageable. I quickly found that this was an

ill-founded and inaccurate assumption.

As soon as we left our house, I was hesitant, timid, and somewhat frightened while

walking my dog, despite the well-known terrain. I was jumpy at small noises and was constantly

concerned about the presence of cars in the street. I often moved with outstretched hands,

worried that I would walk into a pole or a car parked on the side of the road. As we slowly

navigated through the neighborhood, I kept my husband close and felt the need to maintain

contact with him the entire time. When we were on long stretches of road, I felt more confident

walking and using my memory to guide me. Even so, any time we took a turn, it took quite a bit

of time to reorient myself and regain any sense of confidence. I found that I was much more

sensitive to changes in the pavement. The slightest divots and bumps that generally would have

gone undetected seemed pronounced and were a cause for concern. My pace slowed, and I felt

the need to tap the ground with my feet before proceeding, regardless of how minimal the change

was.

I expected that navigating through life without vision would pose significant challenges.

All in all, I was much more comfortable in my home environment than I was outside. Despite

familiarity with both locations, going out presented a multitude of variables and unexpected
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stimuli. While the task I took on in my home was more complex, I didn't have to worry about

sudden environmental changes or potential threats. My kitchen is a well-controlled environment

that made me feel much more comfortable and at ease without my sense of sight. Ultimately,

these experiences posed numerous challenges, as I had expected, but were, in many ways,

different than anything I had initially anticipated.

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References

Eimer, M. (2004). Multisensory integration: How visual experience shapes spatial perception.

Current Biology, 14(3), 115-117.

Myers, S. G., Solem, S., & Wells, A. (2019, October 4). Why Is There So Much More Research

on Vision Than on Any Other Sensory Modality? Frontiers.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02246/full