Topic 9: Color Perception Flashcards

1
Q

Cerebral Achromatopsia

A

a loss of color vision caused by damage to the cortex

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2
Q

Color Deficiency

A

condition (sometimes incorrectly called color blindness) in which people see fewer colors than people with normal color vision and need to mix fewer wavelengths to match any other wavelength in the spectrum

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3
Q

Chromatic Colors

A

color with hue, such as blue, yellow, red, or green

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4
Q

Selective Reflection

A

when an object reflects some wavelengths of the spectrum more than others

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5
Q

Reflectance Curves

A

a plot showing the percentage of light reflected from an object versus wavelength

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6
Q

Selective Transmission

A

when some wavelengths pass through visually transparent objects or substances and others do not

selective transmission is associated with the perception of chromatic color

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7
Q

Transmission Curves

A

plots of the percentage of light transmitted through a liquid or object at each wavelength

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8
Q

Subtractive Color Mixture

A

both paints still absorb the same wavelengths they absorbed when alone, so the only wavelengths reflected are those that are reflected by both paints in common

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9
Q

Additive Color Mixture

A

all of the light that is reflected from the surface by each light when alone is also reflected when the lights are superimposed

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10
Q

Spectral Colors

A

colors that appear in the visible spectrum

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11
Q

Non-spectral Colors

A

colors that do not appear in the spectrum because they are mixtures of other colors

an example is magenta, which is a mixture of red and blue

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12
Q

Hues

A

the experience of a chromatic color, such as red, green, or yellow, or blue, or combinations of these colors

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13
Q

Saturation

A

the relative amount of whiteness in a chromatic color

the less whiteness a color contains, the more saturated it is

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14
Q

Desaturated

A

low saturation in chromatic colors as would occur when white is added to a color

for example, pink is not as saturated as red

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15
Q

Value

A

the light-or-dark dimension of color

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16
Q

Lightness

A

the perception of shades ranging from white to gray to black

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17
Q

Color Solid

A

a solid in which colors are arranged in an orderly way based on their hue, saturation, and value

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18
Q

Munsell Color System

A

depiction of hue, saturation, and value developed by Albert Munsell in the early 1900s in which different hues are arranged around the circumstance of a cylinder with perceptually similar hues placed next to each other

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19
Q

Trichromacy of Color Vision

A

the idea that our perception of color is determined by the ratio of activity in three receptor mechanisms with different spectral sensitivities

also known as the Young-Helmholtz theory

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20
Q

Color Matching

A

a procedure in which observers are asked to match the color in one field by mixing to or more lights in another field

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21
Q

Microspectrophotometry

A

a technique in which a narrow beam of light is directed into a single visual receptor

this technique makes it possible to determine the pigment absorption spectra of single receptors

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22
Q

Adaptive Optical Imaging

A

a technique that makes it possible to look into a person’s eye and take pictures of the receptor array in the retina

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23
Q

Aberrations

A

imperfections on the eye’s cornea and lens that distort light on its way to the retina

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24
Q

Cone Mosaic

A

arrangement of short-, medium-, and long-wavelength cones in a particular part of the retina

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25
Q

Metamerism

A

the situation in which two physically different stimuli are perceptually identical

in vision, this refers to two lights with different wavelength distributions that are perceived as having the same color

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26
Q

Metamers

A

two lights that have different wavelength distributions but are perceptually identical

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27
Q

Monochromatism

A

rare form of color blindness in which the absence of cone receptors results in perception only of shades of lightness (white, gray and black), with no chromatic color present

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28
Q

Monochromats

A

a person who is completely color-blind and therefore sees everything as black, white, or shades of gray

a monochromat can match any wavelength in the spectrum by adjusting the intensity of any other wavelength

monochromats generally have only one type of functioning receptors, usually rods

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29
Q

Color Blind

A

a condition in which a person perceives no chromatic color

this can be caused by absent or malfunctioning cone receptors or by cortical damage

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30
Q

Dichromats

A

a person who has a form of color deficiency

dichromats can match any wavelength in the spectrum by mixing two other wavelength

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31
Q

Trichromats

A

a person with normal color vision

trichromats can match any wavelength in the spectrum by mixing three other wavelengths in various proportions

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32
Q

Ishihara Plates

A

a display of colored dots used to test for the presence of color deficiency

the dots are colored so that people with normal (trichromatic) color vision can perceive numbers on the plate, but people with color deficiency cannot perceive these numbers or perceive different numbers than someone with trichromatic vision

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33
Q

Unilateral Dicrhomat

A

a person who has dichromatic vision in one eye and trichromatic vision in the other eye

people with this condition (which is extremely rare) have been tested to determine what colors dichromats perceive by asking them to compare the perceptions they experience with their dichromatic eye and their trichromatic eye

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34
Q

Dichromatism

A

a form of color deficiency in which a person has just two types of cone pigment and so can see chromatic colors but confuse some colors that trichromats can distinguish

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35
Q

Protanopia

A

a form of dichromatism in which a protanope is missing the long-wavelength pigment, and perceives short-wavelength light as blue and long-wavelength light as yellow

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36
Q

Neutral Point

A

the wavelength at which a dichromat perceives gray

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37
Q

Deuteranopia

A

a form of dichromatism in which a person is missing the medium-wavelength pigment

a deuteranope perceives turquoise at short wavelengths, sees yellow at long wavelengths, and has a neutral point at about 498 nm

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38
Q

Tritanopia

A

a form of dichromatism in which a person is missing the short-wavelength pigment

a tritanope sees blue at short wavelengths, red at long wavelengths

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39
Q

Anomalous Trichromatism

A

a type of color deficiency in which a person needs to mix a minimum of three wavelengths to match any other wavelength in the spectrum but mixes these wavelengths in different proportions than a trichromat

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40
Q

Opponent-Process Theory of Color Vision

A

a theory originally proposed by Hering, which claimed that our perception of color determined by the activity of two opponent mechanisms

a blue-yellow mechanism and a red-green mechanism

the responses to the two colors in each mechanism oppose each other, one being an excitatory response and the other an inhibitory response

in addition, this theory also includes a black-white mechanism, which is concerned with the perception of brightness

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41
Q

Color Circle

A

perceptually similar colors located next to each other an arranged in a circle

42
Q

Hue Scaling

A

procedure in which participants are given colors from around the hue circle and told to indicate the proportions of red, yellow, blue, and green that they perceive in each color

43
Q

Unique Hues

A

name given by Ewald Hering to what he proposed were the primary colors: red, yellow, green, and blue

44
Q

Hue Cancellation

A

procedure in which a subject is shown a monochromatic reference light and is asked to remove, or “cancel”, the one of the colors in the reference light by adding a second wavelength

this procedure was used by Hurvich and Jameson in their research on opponent-process theory

45
Q

Opponent Neurons

A

a neuron that has an excitatory response to wavelengths in one part of the spectrum and an inhibitory response to wavelengths in the other part of the spectrum

46
Q

Color Constancy

A

the effect in which the perception of an object’s hue remains constant even when the wavelength distribution of the illumination is changed

partial color constancy occurs when our perception of hue changes a little when the illumination changes, though not as much as we might expect from the change in the wavelengths of light reaching the eye

47
Q

Chromatic Adapatation

A

exposure to light in a specific part of the visible spectrum

this adaptation can cause a decrease in sensitivity to light from the area of the spectrum that was presented during adaptation

48
Q

Partial Color Constancy

A

a type of color constancy that occurs when changing an object’s illumination causes a change in perception of the object’s hue, but less change than would be expected based on the change in the wavelengths of light reaching the eye

note that in complete color constancy, changing an object’s illumination causes no change in the object’s hue

49
Q

Memory Color

A

the idea that an object’s characteristic color influences our perception of that objects’ color

50
Q

Lightness Constancy

A

the constancy of our perception of an object’s lightness under different intensities of illumination

51
Q

Reflectance

A

the percentage of light reflected from a surface

52
Q

Ratio Principle

A

a principle stating that two areas that reflect different amounts of light will have the same perceived lightness if the ratios of their intensities to the intensities of their surroundings are the same

53
Q

Reflectance Edge

A

an edge between two areas where the reflectance of two surfaces changes

54
Q

Illumination Edge

A

the border between two areas created by different light intensities in the two areas

55
Q

Habituation Procedure

A

procedure in which a person pays less attention when the same stimulus is presented repeatedly

for example, infants look at a stimulus less and less on each successive trial

56
Q

Dishabituation

A

an increase in responding that occurs when a stimulus is changed

this response is used in testing infants to see whether they can differentiate two stimuli

57
Q

Novelty-Preference Procedure

A

a procedure used to study infant color vision in which two side-by-side squares of different colors are presented and the infant’s looking time to the two squares is measured to determine whether they can tell the difference between them

58
Q

What is perceptual segregation?

A

aids in discriminating objects from background

59
Q

What is crypsis?

A

camouflage, concealment, or disruption with respect to the surrounding environment

concealing coloration, disruptive coloration

60
Q

What is concealing coloration?

A

animal has same color as its environment

e.g., snowy owl

61
Q

What is disruptive coloration?

A

pattern breaks up outline so one individual doesn’t stand out

may also produce “motion dazzle”

e.g., zebras

62
Q

What is mimesis?

A

camouflage or concealment by imitation of another object

disguise, mimicry

63
Q

What is disguise?

A

animal looks like another, unimportant object to predator or prey

e.g., walking stick

64
Q

What is mimicry?

A

animal looks like other distasteful or dangerous animal

e.g., scarlet king snake

65
Q

How did Sir Isaac Newton describe color?

A

split sunlight into component colors using a prism

wavelength correspond to (most) colors

spectral colors: those found in the rainbow
what about purple?

66
Q

What are the three physical and psychological dimensions of color?

A

wavelength / hue

purity / saturation

intensity / brightness

67
Q

What is the color spindle?

A

describes all colors we can see

slice = color circle

problem: some hues saturate before others

68
Q

How are color terms separated differently in different languages?

A

if a language includes only 2 color terms, they represent light and dark

if there are three color terms, vocabulary is equivalent to light (white), warm (red, yellow, brown) and dark (including black, green & blue, or grue)

warm is always split into red and yellow before grue is split into green and blue

basic hues (black, white, red, yellow, green, and blue) named before color terms

if there are 7 or more color concepts, the words for brown, orange, pink, purple, and grey are added before green or blue are subdivided

concluded there are 11 basic color terms

69
Q

What is the invariant sequence in which color names emerge in language?

A
  1. black, white
  2. red
  3. green or yellow
  4. blue
  5. brown
  6. orange, pink, purple, grey
70
Q

What are metamers?

A

two lights with different wavelength distribution, but appearing identical in color

metamers must produce identical neural activation

71
Q

What is an additive color mixture?

A

mix light of different wavelengths

mix red and green = yellow

mix all colors = white

e.g., computer or TV screen pixels

72
Q

What is a subtractive color mixture?

A

mix paint (or ink) of different pigments

mix red and green = grey-brown

mix all colors = black

e.g., inkjet pigments (usually yellow, magenta, & cyan)

paint absorbs (subtracts) wavelengths except the one you perceive it having

73
Q

What are complementary colors?

A

colors on opposite sides of the color circle which, when added, produce greyish-white

74
Q

What are primaries?

A

three wavelengths that, when mixed in certain proportions, can match any other hue

any primary cannot be matchable by mixing the other two (i.e., use monochromatic lights, not metamers)

believed to be basic units of color sensation

primaries define the “color triangle”

problem: some test colors are not matchable (spectral yellow requires a negative primary)

75
Q

What is the “gamut”?

A

defined bigger, imaginary triangle (“gamut”) encompassing all spectral hues to overcome problem of negative primaries

CIE chromaticity space: hues defined by two numbers; proportion of G and R

add another dimension for brightness

any hue may be specified in terms of these primaries

76
Q

What is scotopic vision?

A

only rods function; no color

thus cones are responsible for color vision, but how?

77
Q

What is the Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory?

A

Thomas Young (1802): proposed that only three different types of receptors are needed, each sensitive to a different wavelength

Hermann von Helmholtz (1806): provided evidence that mixing three primary colors would match any given color

78
Q

What is the evidence for the Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory?

A

color-matching experiments: observers can match a given color by combining proportions of three primaries together

physiological evidence: measure wavelength of light absorbed by cones using microspectrophotometer, different wavelengths produce different activations in each receptor type

79
Q

What is opponent-process theory?

A

Ewald Hering (1878)

phenomenological observation led to questions: how many primary colors do there seem to be? can all colors be combined the same way?

proposed that basic colors come in opposing pairs

80
Q

What is the evidence for the opponent-process theory?

A

afterimage: visual sensation appearing after adapting to a stimulus; produces opposite color

simultaneous color contrast: surrounding an area with a color changes the appearance of the surrounded area

habituation: infants get bored of looking at the same thing

physiological evidence: centre-surround cells have opposing receptive field regions of bright and dark

81
Q

How are color-opponent cells neurally wired?

A

opponent process obtains a difference function for the associated pair of wavelengths

82
Q

What is the cortical coding of color perception?

A

color-opponent cells found in blobs (V1 layers 2 & 3)

V1 layer 4 and V4 have double color-opponent cells

83
Q

What is rod monochromacy?

A

no cones

incidence: 1 per 100,000

84
Q

What is cone monochromacy?

A

one type of cone only

blue-cone monochromats: more common

85
Q

What is dicrhomacy?

A

two types of cones only

86
Q

What is protanopia?

A

long wavelength cone deficient

perceives spectrum as blue-yellow

impaired in ability to distinguish red/green

87
Q

What is deuteranopia?

A

medium wavelength cone deficient

perceives spectrum as blue-yellow

impaired ability to distinguish red / green

88
Q

What is tritanopia?

A

short wavelength cone deficient, very rare

perceives spectrum as turquoise-red

impaired ability to perceive blue and yellow

89
Q

What is anomalous trichromacy?

A

have all types of cones, but one type is abnormal

are poor at discriminating hues

90
Q

What is color constancy?

A

perception of an object’s color remains constant, despite variations in the quality of illumination

91
Q

What is chromatic adaptation?

A

prolonged exposure to a particular wavelength causes cones to be less sensitive to it

92
Q

What is memory color?

A

characteristic color of a familiar object may influence color perception

93
Q

What proportion of people thought #TheDress was different colors?

A

blue/black: 57%

white/gold: 30%

blue/brown: 11%

~10% of people report seeing it switch colors

94
Q

What are the possible interpretations for why people saw the dress differently?

A

white/gold dress seen under “cool” bluish illumination (or due to camera’s white balance, shifting whites to blue)

blue/black dress in “warm” yellowish illumination, overexposed in photo

95
Q

What was the Wallisch (2017) study on the effects of chronotype on how people perceived the dress?

A

“larks” are people to tend to get up early and go to bed early, whereas “owls” get up late and stay up later

larks are exposed to more (bluish) sunlight than owls, who are exposed to more (yellowish) incandescent light

chronotype accounts for experience of the dress: larks are more likely to see it as white/gold; owls are more likely to see it as blue/black

96
Q

What is lightness (whiteness) constancy?

A

perception of an object’s lightness (inherent white/grey/black-ness) remains constant, despite changes in illumination

illumination (light falling on surface) x reflectance (proportion of light reflected from a surface) = retinal luminance (amount of light on retina)

97
Q

What is the ratio principle?

A

percentage of light reflected from an object (compared to illumination) determines perception of lightness

98
Q

What is the McCollough effect (1965)?

A
  1. look at vertical black & green striped for 5 sec. each, alternately looking at horizontal red & black stripes, for a total of 5 minutes
  2. then look at a pattern of horizontal and vertical black & white stripes

vertical whites appear reddish; horizontal whites look greenish (but no afterimages on blank white paper)

due to fatigue of cortical (not retinal) colored-line detecting cells?

aftereffects may last for weeks

duration can be changed by consumptions of coffee and some psychoactive drugs

stronger in extroverts than introverts, and might be a reliable test for extroversion

99
Q

What is absolute identification?

A

it is difficult to identify (or categorize) unidimensional stimuli (whereas it is easy to identify complex stimuli like faces)

e.g., poor performance on color recognition task

100
Q

What is relative information?

A

the task is easier if a comparison scale is provided

e.g., good performance identifying temperature on color-coded map