Ch. 5-6 Flashcards
three steps to perceiving color
1) detection –> detecting wavelengths; photoreceptors convert light into signals in the nervous system
2) discrimination –> neurons compare inputs from different kinds of photoreceptors
3) appearance –> assign perceived colors to lights and surfaces in the world
three types of cone receptors
S-cone, M-cone, L-cone
S-cone
a cone that is preferentially sensitive to short wavelengths; blue cone
M-cone
a cone that is preferentially sensitive to middle wavelengths; green cone
L-cone
a cone that is preferentially sensitive to long wavelengths; red cone
spectral sensitivity
the sensitivity of a cell or a device to different wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum
photopic
referring to light intensities that are bright enough to stimulate the cone receptors and bright enough to “saturate” the rod receptors, that is, drive them to their maximum responses
scotopic
referring to light intensities that are bright enough to stimulate the rod receptors but too dim to stimulate the cone receptors
principle of univariance
the fact that an infinite set of different wavelength-intensity combinations can elicit exactly the same response from a single type of photoreceptor; one photoreceptor type cannot make color discriminations based on wavelength
trichromacy/trichromatic theory of color vision
the theory that the color of any light is defined in our visual system by the relationships of three numbers— the outputs of the three cones
metamers
different mixtures of wavelengths that look identical, or more generally, any pair of stimuli that are perceived as identical in spite of physical diffferences
example of metamers
single wavelength that produces equal M- and L-cone activity will look yellow and the correct mixture of longer- and shorter-wavelength lights will also look yellow
additive color mixture
a mixture of lights; if light A and light B are both reflected from a surface to the eye, in the perception of color the effects of those two lights add together
subtractive color mixture
a mixture of pigments; if pigments A and B mix, some of the light shining on the surface will be subtracted by A, and some by B; only the remainder will contribute to the perception of color
to tell the difference between lights…
the nervous system will look at differences in the activities of the three cone types
convert the three cone signals into three new signals
- L-M
- (L+M)-S
- L+M
cone-opponent cell
a cell type— found in the retinal, LGN, and visual cortex— that, in effect, subtracts one type of cone input from another
equiliminant
referring to stimuli that vary in color but not in luminance
mesopic
referring to the middle range of light intensities
color space
the three-dimensional space, established because color perception is based on the outputs of three cone types, that describes the set of all colors
because we have exactly three different types of cone photoreceptors…
the light reaching any part of the retina will be translated into three responses, one for each local population of cones
nonspectral hues
hues that can arise only from mixtures of wavelengths
opponent color theory
the theory that perception of color is based on the output of three mechanisms, each of them resulting from an opponency between two colors: red-green, blue-yellow, and black-white
hue cancellation
cancelling a color through their opposite; ex. finding out how much blue or yellow we need to cancel the yellow or blue in a light of that color