Study Questions: Color




1.  Describe the terms hue, saturation and brightness? Why do these three terms suffice to describe all color percepts?

2.  What is the connection between wavelength and color? What are the spectral reflectance curves for white, grey and black papers? For a colored paper (e.g., green)?

2.  Describe three different methods of additive color mixture and at least one "subtractive" method as well.

3.  Briefly describe the paradigm of metameric color matching. How would a monochromat set a metameric color match? Relate the settings, using three primaries, that a trichromat would find acceptable and those that a dichromat would find acceptable.

4.  Under what conditions might two lights of totally different wavelength composition appear to be identical (in brightness and color).

5.  Briefly describe the principle of univariance. What evidence supports this principle?

6.  Briefly describe the trichromatic theory for color vision. What physiological evidence supports this theory?

7.  Briefly describe the opponent-process theory for color vision. Briefly describe (or sketch) how each channel is built using the photoreceptors as input. How does this theory interpret color afterimages (in fact, with a simpler explanation than could be had using only trichromatic theory)? What physiological evidence supports opponent process theory?

8.  Define color constancy. Briefly discuss possible mechanisms for color constancy.