Years ago (about 1986) I saw a great film on color perception from the 
perspective of the (controversial) retinex theory of Edwin Land. It had 
a truly stunning scene in which one is shown one of Land's "Mondrian" 
displays, and attention is drawn to a green square within it. Then a 
mask is dropped into the projector so that all but this one square is 
blocked from view, and we see that in isolation it appears pink, and 
that the original apparent green color was created by the influence of 
the colors surrounding it. Whatever one thinks of retinex (and most 
perceptionists despise it), it is a fabulous demonstration of the 
maleability of color perception in the "real" world (as opposed to in 
splendid Helmholtzian laboratory isolation) and can generate a good 
class discussion of how the phenomenon came to be. Unfortunately, I do 
not recall the name of hte film and have never seen it again. Does 
anyone else know?

Regards,
Chris
-- 

Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Canada

 

416-736-2100 ex. 66164
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.yorku.ca/christo/

==================================


Gerald Peterson wrote:
> Tipsters:  I am planning on re-vamping my Intro psych material on color.  I 
> always like to challenge students to think more carefully about what is taken 
> for granted in their perceptual experience.  Color perception presents a door 
> for some interesting discussion--namely, where is color?  Many psych texts 
> like to point out that color perception is the perceptual product of the 
> brain's handling of reflected wavelengths and that color is not in the 
> object.  I  don't think this view is entirely adequate, as it implies that 
> the intrinsic features of the viewed object is without color or not 
> importantly (and adaptively) tied to the perception.  I am not aware of an 
> adequately integrated and accepted theory in this area.   I am not a 
> Sensation and Perception specialist but enjoy getting students to think about 
> these issues.  I would like to point to an on-line source for explanation, 
> answers to this question, or further discussion of this topic and would 
> appreciate any help tipsters may provide.  I also use this class discussion 
> to further examine the principle of parsimony.    Thanks,   Gary Peterson 
>
> Gerald L. (Gary) Peterson, Ph.D.
> Professor, Psychology
> Saginaw Valley State University
> University Center, MI 48710
> 989-964-4491
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>   


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