Color and Depth Perception: Vision and Auditory Processes

Aberration

A deviation from the expected or normal condition, often referring to optical distortions.

Achromatic colors

Colors that lack hue, such as black, white, and shades of gray.

Adaptive optical imaging

A technique that compensates for distortions in images caused by atmospheric turbulence.

Additive color mixture

A color mixing method where colors are created by combining different light colors, such as red, green, and blue.

Anomalous trichromatism

A type of color vision deficiency where one of the three cone types is altered, leading to color discrimination issues.

Cerebral achromatopsia

A neurological condition characterized by the inability to perceive color, despite having normal vision.

Chromatic adaptation

The process by which the visual system adjusts to changes in lighting conditions to maintain color perception.

Chromatic colors

Colors that have hue, such as red, blue, and green.

Color blind

A condition where an individual has difficulty distinguishing between certain colors, often due to cone deficiencies.

Color circle

A circular arrangement of colors that illustrates the relationships between different hues.

Color constancy

The ability to perceive the color of an object as constant despite changes in lighting conditions.

Color deficiency

A condition where an individual has reduced ability to perceive colors, commonly referred to as color blindness.

Color matching

The process of adjusting colors to match a standard or reference color.

Color solid

A three-dimensional representation of colors, showing the relationships between hues, saturation, and brightness.

Cone mosaic

The arrangement of cone photoreceptors in the retina, which is crucial for color vision.

Desaturated

Colors that have been reduced in intensity or purity, appearing more gray.

Deuteranopia

A type of red-green color blindness caused by the absence of medium-wavelength cones.

Dichromat

An individual with two types of cone photoreceptors, leading to limited color vision.

Dichromatism

A condition where an individual has only two types of color receptors, affecting color perception.

Dishabituation

The restoration of a response to a stimulus after a change in the stimulus or its context.

Habituation procedure

A method used to measure the decrease in response to a repeated stimulus over time.

Hue

The attribute of a color that enables it to be classified as red, blue, green, etc.

Hue cancellation

A technique used to determine the contribution of different wavelengths to a perceived color.

Hue scaling

A method of quantifying the perception of different hues on a scale.

Illumination edge

The boundary between two areas of different illumination that can affect perception.

Ishihara plate

A test used to diagnose color blindness, consisting of colored dots forming numbers or shapes.

Lightness constancy

The ability to perceive the lightness of an object as constant despite changes in illumination.

Memory color

The influence of an object's remembered color on its perceived color under different lighting conditions.

Metamerism

The phenomenon where two colors appear the same under certain lighting conditions but differ under others.

Metamers

Colors that are perceived as identical but are composed of different wavelengths.

Microspectrophotometry

A technique used to measure the absorption spectra of individual photoreceptor cells.

Monochromat

An individual with only one type of cone photoreceptor, leading to very limited color vision.

Monochromatism

A condition characterized by the absence of color vision, seeing only shades of gray.

Munsell color system

A color space that defines colors based on three dimensions: hue, value (lightness), and chroma (color purity).

Neutral point

The specific wavelength at which a color appears achromatic to an observer.

Nonspectral colors

Colors that cannot be produced by a single wavelength of light, such as brown or pink.

Novelty-preference procedure

A method used to assess memory and recognition by measuring preference for new versus familiar stimuli.

Opponent neurons

Neurons that respond to opposing colors, such as red versus green or blue versus yellow.

Opponent-process theory of color vision

A theory that explains color vision in terms of opposing color pairs processed by the visual system.

Partial color constancy

The phenomenon where color perception remains relatively stable despite changes in illumination, but not perfectly.

Penumbra

The transition zone between light and shadow, affecting the perception of edges.

Primary colors

The basic colors that can be combined to create a wide range of other colors, typically red, green, and blue in additive color mixing.

Principle of univariance

The concept that a single photoreceptor type cannot distinguish between different wavelengths of light.

Protanopia

A type of red-green color blindness caused by the absence of long-wavelength cones.

Ratio principle

The theory that the perceived lightness of an object is determined by the ratio of its luminance to the luminance of its surroundings.

Reflectance

The proportion of light that a surface reflects compared to the light that falls on it.

Reflectance curves

Graphs that show how reflectance varies with wavelength for a given surface.

Reflectance edge

The boundary where there is a change in reflectance, which can affect the perception of depth and shape.

Saturation

The intensity or purity of a color, with high saturation appearing vivid and low saturation appearing grayish.

Selective reflection

The phenomenon where a surface reflects certain wavelengths of light while absorbing others.

Selective transmission

The process by which certain wavelengths of light pass through a medium while others are absorbed.

Spectral colors

Colors that can be produced by a single wavelength of light, such as red, green, and blue.

Subtractive color mixture

A color mixing method where colors are created by combining pigments, which absorb certain wavelengths of light.

Transmission curves

Graphs that show how the transmission of light varies with wavelength for a given medium.

Trichromacy of color vision

The ability to perceive color through three types of cone photoreceptors, each sensitive to different wavelengths.

Trichromat

An individual with three types of cone photoreceptors, allowing for normal color vision.

Tritanopia

A type of color vision deficiency characterized by the absence of short-wavelength cones, affecting blue-yellow perception.

Unilateral dichromat

An individual with dichromacy in one eye and normal color vision in the other.

Unique hues

Colors that cannot be created by mixing other colors, such as red, green, blue, and yellow.

Value

The lightness or darkness of a color, often described in terms of a grayscale scale.

Young-Helmholtz theory

A theory of color vision that proposes the existence of three types of color receptors corresponding to red, green, and blue.