Quiz: Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Colors that we see are our responses to visual stimuli,

a complex process that occurs in our perceptual apparatus.

The Back of the eye is covered by the retina which consists

of many specialized cells arranged in layers.

Color vision consists of the photoreceptors called rods and cones

(100 million rods, 6 million cones)

we see colors most accurately in a narrow field (2 degrees,

out of 360)

Seeing colors:

Trichromatic Theory- the theory that there are

three general kinds of cone pigments:

red range

green range

blue-violet range

Opponent theory:

your eye registers either red signals, or green signals, or either

blue- violet, or yellow. (compliments)

After images (successive contrast):

visual sensations that occur briefly after a color

stimulus is gone. when one stares at a highly saturated color, then

looks away, the illusory image one sees is the compliment of the

saturated color.

Color Constancy: the phenomenon by which colors

subjectively seem to remain the same under different kinds

of illumination. the result of some perceptual apparatus in the

visual cortex of the human brain that works in conjunction

with the color preceptors in the retina of the eye.

Variables in color perception:

Emotions: it is likely that our emotional state influences our color perception.

perceptions of color are somewhat subjective, there are some color effects that have universal meaning. Colors in the red area of the color spectrum are known as warm colors and include red, orange and yellow. These warm colors evoke emotions ranging from feelings of warmth and comfort to feelings of anger and hostility.

Colors on the blue side of the spectrum are known as cool colors and include blue, purple and green. These colors are often described as calm, but can also call to mind feelings of sadness or indifference.little is known of these individual emotional variations the color perception.

all colors are effected by the colors around them. colors may appear brighter in juxtaposition with less saturated colors.

lighting has such an effect on color perception, natural daylight from the north in the northern hemisphere is used as a standard for critical color matching

Surface qualities:

A three dimensional surface will not reflect light uniformly. Many optical color variations will seem to play across its surface. Reflection of light from its outermost contours will be strongest, making them appear optically very light, even if the material is actually of dark color.

synesthesia ( the combination of two forms of perceptions)

hearing is simultaneously perceived as if by one or more additional senses such as sight. Another form of synesthesia joins objects such as letters, shapes, numbers or people’s names with a sensory perception such as smell, color or flavor. The word synesthesia comes from two Greek words, syn (together) and aisthesis (perception). Therefore, synesthesia literally means “joined perception.”