Evening star., 1935-01-06

Suppose that the rich variety of coors
that you see in nature, in dress, and
in familiar household objects were
j merely names to you; that all forms
we're strange and movements novel to
your sight.
Can you picture to yourself just how they
would look to you when your sight was re-
stored? Would you admire the sights you now
find beautiful? Would you be able to dis
tinguish pencil from fork? Would you be
attracted toward a red hat or repeled by
red apple?
Some few people have had just this strange
experience Born with cataracts on their eyes
that prevented all vision, and even in some
cases excluoed all light, they were operated on
when they were grown up and as adults had
the confusing experience that confronts every
newborn baby-looking the world for the
first time.
Now a psychologist, Dr. Wayne Dennis of
the University of Virginia, struck by the dra-
matte quality of their experiences and with the
value they would have in indicating just what
aspects of our vision are natural" or unlearned
and what are acquired through practice in see
ing, has searched through dusty books on medi-
cine and accounts in journals old and new for
the stories of such cases. He has summarized
what he found in report to the Journal Of
Social Psychology.
Did it ever occur to you that your ability to
train your eyes OH the object that you wish to
is something that you have learned as a re-
suit of experience?
NBSERVATION of these persons with newly
~ acquired vision indicates that it is not an
ability that just comes naturally" along with
the blessing of sight Those individuals whose
eyes were thinly obscured by the cataracts SO
chat they were able to tell light from dark
ness had learned in their handicapped state
to turn their heads toward the source of light.
These persons able without difficulty to
tnoir l.
to observe.
But others who had lived in total darkness
had to learn how. They were puzzled as you
might be in trying to watch moving object
reflected at peculiar angle in a mirror. They
had to turn their heads in first one direction
and then another until the object was directly
seen.
with new vision. Objects at considerable dis
tance are groped for close to the face re.
minding the observer of the confident way in
which baby will reach out and try to clasp
the shining moon.
boy, given his sight for the first time at
. the age of 13, thought that all the objects he
could see must be brushing against his eyes in
the same way that the things he felt must
touch his skin. Another patient, a man, went
up night OF stairs two steps at time without
noticing what he was doing; others constantly
were inclined to step too high when walking
with their eyes open
Perhaps you think that the shape and texture
OF objects look just about as they feel That is
only so because of your long association of the
sight Of things with their feel In your hand
Those to whom vision is a new experience
look upon bewildering world of unrecognizable
objects. They have no notion Of what anything
might be- Even the simple form of an orange
cannot be identified until 1t can be touched
This is very confusing to the patient, and some-
times depressing discouragng as well.
The 13-year-old boy started out, just as q
child would by asking of each object, What is
it?" He would stare long at it, trying to fix
its appearance in his mind SO that he should
know it when he saw it again. He would thus
learn-and forget-what seemed to be thou
sands Of objects in day.
One day he discovered that he had forgotten
which was the cat and which was the dog
He picked up the cat and held her, recognized
her by feeling and then looked at her stead
fastly, at last setting her down with, 80, puSs,
shall know you another time"
Faces are not easily recognized by those with
newly acquired vision 1t was three days before
one patient noticed the nose on her brothers
face. Even after months of vision, only the
most intimate tamiliars are known 'by sight"
Colors seemed to be Immediately distinguished
by these persons, and the names for them read
lily learned. In fact, colors, in some cases at
least made more impression on the patients
than they would a person accustomed to