Where is color? This has been one that has been debated by scientists and
philosophers for ages. How much of something resides in the object (primary
qualities - the physics of the object) and how much of it is our perception
(secondary qualities - our experience). I think about it from a
psychophysical point of view. What is out there is not necessarily what we
perceive. In terms of color, a 500 nm light will typically be seen as
green, unless you are missing the medium wavelength cones - then you see gray.
To make it even more confusing, other combinations of wavelengths can give
us the perception of green. TVs only project in blue, green, and red. Yet,
we are able to see all of the colors using just these 3.
At 12:26 PM 8/30/2008 -0400, you 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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Deb
Dr. Deborah S. Briihl
Dept. of Psychology and Counseling
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, GA 31698
(229) 333-5994
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://chiron.valdosta.edu/dbriihl/
Well I know these voices must be my soul...
Rhyme and Reason - DMB
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