How well can you see in the dark?

Spectators at the 1990 Graduate Research Exhibition in the lobby of Kern Graduate Center were asked this question in an experiment that may help the psychology department understand how vision orientation is perceived.

Research and data collected from the "orientation vision" experiment will serve a wide variety of purposes, said Richard Tyrrell, a doctorate candidate. "We want to help pilots fly their planes better, people drive their cars better and it also aids us in the research of motion sickness," he said.

The exhibit, titled "The Persistence of Orientation Cues: Can You 'See' in the Dark," measured an observer's ability to judge distances using two points of light. Data from the experiment will be used to study visual perception in relation to the body and the surrounding environment.

So far, the results of other vision orientation experiments conducted by the psychology department have shown that longer periods of darkness lead to increased disorientation about one's surroundings, Tyrrell said.

For example, experiments show that when the subjects close their eyes and begin walking, they feel much more confident and can walk further without becoming disoriented immediately, Tyrrell said.

Kirsten Rudolph (senior-psychology), an undergraduate assisting the graduate research vision experiment, said their exhibit was the only one in the exhibition to ask for spectator participation in collecting actual, useable data.

"It lets a lot of people participate and be involved," she said. "It's very rewarding."

Other science exhibits at the fair included entries from the colleges of agriculture, earth and mineral sciences, engineering, health and human development, and medicine and science.

Exhibits featured included research on the biological control of sweet corn pests, prediction of groundwater chemistry in high-level nuclear waste repositories, concentration of liquid egg white, the effect of prolactin on lymphocyte proliferation and research on the geographical spread of AIDS in Pennsylvania.