When children and adults apply for disability benefits and claim that a visual impairment has limited their ability to function, the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) is required to determine their eligibility. To ensure that these determinations are made fairly and consistently, SSA has developed criteria for eligibility and a process for assessing each claimant against the criteria. Visual Impairments: Determining Eligibility for Social Security Benefits examines SSA's methods of determining disability for people with visual impairments, recommends changes that could be made now to improve the process and the outcomes, and identifies research needed to develop improved methods for the future. The report assesses tests of visual function, including visual acuity and visual fields whether visual impairments could be measured directly through visual task performance or other means of assessing disability. These other means include job analysis databases, which include information on the importance of vision to job tasks or skills, and measures of health-related quality of life, which take a person-centered approach to assessing visual function testing of infants and children, which differs in important ways from standard adult tests.

Recent vision research has led to the emergence of new techniques that offer exciting potential for a more complete assessment of vision in clinical, industrial, and military settings. Emergent Techniques for Assessment of Visual Performance examines four areas of vision testing that offer potential for improved assessment of visual capability including: contrast sensitivity function, dark-focus of accommodation, dynamic visual acuity and dynamic depth tracking, and ambient and focal vision. In contrast to studies of accepted practices, this report focuses on emerging techniques that could help determine whether people have the vision necessary to do their jobs. In addition to examining some of these emerging techniques, the report identifies their usefulness in predicting performance on other visual and visual-motor tasks, and makes recommendations for future research. Emergent Techniques for Assessment of Visual Performance provides summary recommendations for research that will have significant value and policy implications for the next 5 to 10 years. The content and conclusions of this report can serve as a useful resource for those responsible for screening industrial and military visual function.

Comprises selected contributions to the Optics Within Life Sciences first conference. The first in the series, it is intended to serve the need for interdisciplinary information and communication in the domains of Optics Within Life Sciences.

Based on the First Biannual Lifespan Development Conference, this volume offers a multidisciplinary and multidimensional approach to the study of lifespan development in the areas of neuropsychology, cognition, behavior genetics, and perception. The objective of the conference was to provide a lively forum for the discussion of issues related to lifespan development and to reflect on important topics challenging the field during the 1990s. The chapters in this book, motivated by the conference presentations, cover: * the assessment and evaluation of developmental changes in visual perception; * the contribution of behavioral genetic factors to development; * the predictability of perinatal risk factors as they relate to cognitive and linguistic outcomes; * the neuropsychological changes during aging; and * innovative approaches to the study of cognitive development using neuropsychological testing methods.

The aim of this book is both to reflect current knowledge of perceptual development and to point to some of the many questions that remain unanswered. The study of perceptual development is now a sophisticated science. The majority of the chapters tell a fascinating detective story: the way in which infants perceive and understand the world as they develop. Each of the major sections is prefaced by introductory comments, and the book will be useful for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, researchers, and other professionals who have an interest in early perceptual development and in infancy in general.

This selection of articles from the Encyclopedia of the Eye covering retina, optics/optic nerve and comparative topics constitutes the first reference for scientists, post docs, and graduate students with an interest beyond standard textbook materials. It covers the full spectrum of research on the retina - from the basic biochemistry of how nerve cells are created to information on neurotransmitters, comparisons of the structure and neuroscience of peripheral vision systems in different species, and all the way through to injury repair and other clinical applications. The first single volume to integrate comparative studies into a comprehensive resource on the neuroscience of the retina Chapters are carefully selected from the Encyclopedia of the Eye by one of the world's leading vision researchers The best researchers in the field provide their conclusions in the context of the latest experimental results

As the first comprehensive reference for the eye, its support structures, diseases, and treatments, Encyclopedia of the Eye is an important resource for all visual scientists, ophthalmologists, and optometrists, as well as researchers in immunology, infectious disease, cell biology, neurobiology and related disciplines. This four-volume reference is unique in its coverage of information on all tissues important for vision, including the retina, cornea and lens. It also covers the physiological and pathophysiologic processes that affect all eye tissues. This Encyclopedia is invaluable for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who are seeking an introduction to an area of eye research. Each chapter explains the basic concepts and provides references to relevant chapters within the Encyclopedia and more detailed articles across the wider research literature. The Encyclopedia is also particularly useful for visual scientists and practitioners who are researching a new area, seeking deeper understanding of important research articles in fields adjacent to their own, or reviewing a grant outside their immediate area of expertise. Written by experts at a level that permits students to grasp key elements of a specific subject Provides an entryway into the major features of current eye research No other source puts this much information, so well-indexed and with so many helpful full color figures and graphics, in the hands of the ophthalmic scientist

The first volume in the new Cambridge Handbooks in Behavioral Genetics series, Behavioral Genetics of the Mouse provides baseline information on normal behaviors, essential in both the design of experiments using genetically modified or pharmacologically treated animals and in the interpretation and analyses of the results obtained. The book offers a comprehensive overview of the genetics of naturally occurring variation in mouse behavior, from perception and spontaneous behaviors such as exploration, aggression, social interactions and motor behaviors, to reinforced behaviors such as the different types of learning. Also included are numerous examples of potential experimental problems, which will aid and guide researchers trying to troubleshoot their own studies. A lasting reference, the thorough and comprehensive reviews offer an easy entrance into the extensive literature in this field, and will prove invaluable to students and specialists alike.