astronomy

Oliver Braddick

Oliver Braddick is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Oliver Braddick rather than just read about it. In short: Oliver John Braddick (16 November 1944 – 17 January 2022) was a British developmental psychologist who researched infant visual perception. He frequently collaborated with his wife Janette Atkinson.

Key takeaways

Oliver Braddick belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Oliver Braddick to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Oliver Braddick from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Oliver John Braddick (16 November 1944 – 17 January 2022) was a British developmental psychologist who researched infant visual perception. He frequently collaborated with his wife Janette Atkinson.

Biography Braddick was Emeritus Professor of Experimental Psychology at Oxford University from 2011 to 2022. Prior to that, from 2001 to 2011 he was professor and head of the Department of Experimental Psychology. Braddick gained a BA (1965) and PhD (1968) in Experimental Psychology at Trinity College, Cambridge. Between 1968 and 1969 he was a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Lorrin Riggs, Brown University, USA. In 1969 he returned to Cambridge as a University Demonstrator; later he became a lecturer and then reader. By 1976, Braddick was an active member of the Cambridge Visual Development Unit, along with Janette Atkinson, his wife. The unit carried out pioneering research on the development of visual cortical function in infancy and in early visual screening. He also advanced understanding of binocular processes of both infants and adults. In 1993, Braddick and Janette Atkinson moved to University College London as professors of Psychology. He became head of the Psychology department in 1998. In 2001, he was elected fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, was appointed Head of Psychology at the University of Oxford, and became a Fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford. In July 2012, Braddick was elected as a Fellow of the British Academy for his contributions in the field of visual perception and its development in early childhood. Braddick was also a member of the Visual Development Unit at the University College of London and University of Oxford, a unit that specialises in child visual perception. Braddick was a member of the editorial board for Current Biology. He died on 17 January 2022, at the age of 77.

Research Braddick specialised in infant vision, particularly visual and visuomotor development of the dorsal and ventral streams in infants and children. In infancy, visual traits determine a manual response and the kinematic parameters of each type of response, including reach-and-grasp and surface exploration. These responses reflect the properties of visuo-motor modules which appear in infants from 4 to 12 months old. Because these modules are part of the dorsal cortical stream, they interact with the ventral stream processing in development and in the mature system. Braddick also researched perceptual development of infants with hyperopia. In addition to working on infant vision, Braddick and colleagues showed that adults attempting to grab a glowing item in the dark had a longer reach duration, lower average speed, as well as lower peak speed versus the same situation in the light. According to Braddick, reliable motion perception requires several processes that integrate and combine visual motion signals from neighbouring locations within the field of vision. This has the effect of smoothing out spatial variations in velocity.

Selected publications Source:

Atkinson, Janette; Braddick, Oliver; Nardini, Marko; Anker, Shirley (2007). "Infant Hyperopia: Detection, Distribution, Changes and Correlates-Outcomes From the Cambridge Infant Screening Programs". Optometry and Vision Science. 84 (2): 84–96. doi:10.1097/OPX.0b013e318031b69a. PMID 17299337. S2CID 39967549. Braddick, Oliver; Birtles, Deirdre; Wattam-Bell, John; Atkinson, Janette (2005). "Motion- and orientation-specific cortical responses in infancy". Vision Research. 45 (25–26): 3169–79. doi:10.1016/j.visres.2005.07.021. PMID 16137739. Braddick, Oliver; Atkinson, Janette; Wattam-Bell, John (2003). "Normal and anomalous development of visual motion processing: motion coherence and 'dorsal-stream vulnerability'". Neuropsychologia. 41 (13): 1769–1784. doi:10.1016/S0028-3932(03)00178-7. PMID 14527540. S2CID 35205340. Mason, A JS; Braddick, O J; Wattam-Bell, J (2003). "Motion coherence thresholds in infants—different tasks identify at least two distinct motion systems". Vision Research. 43 (10): 1149–1157. doi:10.1016/S0042-6989(03)00077-4. PMID 12705955. S2CID 8875803. Braddick, Oliver J; Wishart, Keith A; Curran, William (2002). "Directional performance in motion transparency". Vision Research. 42 (10): 1237–1248. doi:10.1016/S0042-6989(02)00018-4. PMID 12044756. Gunn, Alison; Cory, Elizabeth; Atkinson, Janette; Braddick, Oliver; Wattam-Bell, John; Guzzetta, Andrea; Cioni, Giovanni (2002). "Dorsal and ventral stream sensitivity in normal development and hemiplegia". NeuroReport. 13 (6): 843–847. doi:10.1097/00001756-200205070-00021. PMID 11997698. S2CID 22063065. Atkinson, J; Anker, S; Braddick, O; Nokes, L; Mason, A; Braddick, F (2001). "Visual and visuospatial development in young children with Williams syndrome". Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. 43 (5): 330–337. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8749.2001.tb00213.x. PMID 11368486. Braddick, O J; O'Brien, J M; Wattam-Bell, J; Atkinson, J; Turner, R (2000). "Form and motion coherence activate independent, but not dorsal/ventral segregated, networks in the human brain" (PDF). Current Biology. 10 (12): 731–734. Bibcode:2000CBio...10..731B. doi:10.1016/S0960-9822(00)00540-6. PMID 10873810. Curran, W; Braddick, O J; Atkinson, J; Wattam-Bell, J; Andrew, R (1999). "Development of illusory-contour perception in infants". Perception. 28 (4): 527–538. doi:10.1068/p2845. PMID 10664792. S2CID 29944681.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Oliver Braddick

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Oliver Braddick claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Oliver Braddick before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Oliver Braddick ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Oliver Braddick

In research: Oliver Braddick appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Oliver Braddick in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Oliver Braddick is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1944 births, 2022 deaths, Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Oliver Braddick outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Oliver Braddick in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Oliver Braddick means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Oliver Braddick out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Oliver Braddick in simple terms?

Why does Oliver Braddick matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Oliver Braddick?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Oliver Braddick.