Colour Illusions

 

 

AIC COLOUR '97 - KYOTO

The Color Science Association of Japan - 1997

Osvaldo da Pos

pp. 34-41

 

 

 

 

 

          The paper deals with a series of problems concerning general theories of perception and various concepts of illusions. In studying perception, explications are initially considered as formal correlations between variables, and this first step is believed to be the basis of further theoretical interpretations in terms of mechanisms or processes. One main distinction is postulated between physical / neuro-physiological variables on the one hand and phenomenological variables on the other hand, and on this distinction visual illusions are then defined and classified. A series of colour effects is examined to support the assumption that phenomenological illusions are easier to be detected, more evident and surprising than psychophysical illusions, which in turn should not be properly considered illusions.

 

1. Introduction.

          Perceptual illusions can be considered as icebergs in the ocean of all perceptual phenomena: they alert the researcher that there is something of importance to be studied and they impose a series of questions which hardly can be avoided. The interest for studying illusions rises in different scientific and artistic fields, for different reasons: in some cases the most general problems of perception are the focus of the investigation, while in other cases people are concerned about how a particular illusion can be practically used in specific situations.

          In this study I try to show that perceptual illusions can have a single very general definition, but also that a further subdivision can be made which helps the researcher to more easily recognize them, to more clearly deal with the theoretical implications, to more effectively use them in practical applications.

          Speaking of perceptual illusions, my argument necessarily starts from considering the phenomenal world as it appears to all individual observers. The traditional psychological problem of perception is usually so formulated: "why the world appears as it appears", and the psychologist's task has been recognized as finding an explanation, a solution of the problem.

          At a very first general level explanation consists in identifying some regular relationships between different elements which are correlated with the event to be explained. At this level explanation has mainly an informational value: the knowledge of a series of relations is sufficient for knowing the characteristics of the corresponding event. Therefore one can easily understand why often scientific definitions and laws insist on the functional dependency of an event on a series of conditions.

          The procedure for explanation requires two logical steps: first the isolation of the relevant variables, secondly the determination of an appropriate mathematical relationship between the variables.

          There are two different realms from which relevant variables can be derived: the physical world and the phenomenal world. When physical or neuro-physiological variables are correlated with phenomenal variables, one might speak of physical or neuro-physiological theories; when correlations are detected within phenomenological variables, one speaks of phenomenological theories. For instance, to explain why some surfaces look more or less yellowish than others, one can apply either to variations in the power and frequency of electromagnetic waves impinging the eye, or to variations in some purely perceptual dimensions like figural belongingness or colour similarity.

          There is no apriori principle imposing the choice: from the point of view of information, the goal of an explanation is the description of the necessary and sufficient conditions for the event, i.e. the formalization of the functions relating the variables to the event. The best explanation is reached when it is possible to derive a full knowledge of the event from the knowledge of the hypothetical relevant variables (in the form: "a perceptual event of a specified kind is given if and only if a series of conditions is fulfilled in the relevant variable"). Strictly speaking, only the informational foundation of the knowledge is here involved, and therefore mathematical models do not presuppose philosophical (ontological) inferences, like causal relationships. When the correspondence between variables is one to one the explanation is complete. But often the correspondence is many to one, and at least in one direction the information is fully determined; if the correspondence is many to many, although it is still rich in information as it excludes what is irrelevant, the predictive power of this knowledge is relatively low. It seems that explanations in psychology need a much more complex description of the relevant correlated variables than in other fields of science.

          Perception may be understood to mean just the process (e.g. a cognitive or a neurological process) or it may be understood to mean the end result of the process, i.e. the "phenomenal world", the world as we experience it. Mathematical models are often derived from the phenomenal world but may be used to make inferences about the possible processes. The use that is made of the models depends on the theory. There are many reasons for considering mechanisms and causality relationships as very useful constructs for explaining perceptual events. Nevertheless, although science has recently achieved gratifying successes, it seems that the relationships between neuro-physiological variables and the characteristics of the perceived events are still limited to rather simple aspects of perception, if any at all (Westheimer, 1990 [1]; Uttal 1996 [2]). Zrenner et al. [3] p. 204 put it strongly: "Despite much effort, a direct correlation between classical color metrics and neuro-physiological mechanisms is not yet possible".

          There is a quite animated debate about the relationships between the physical and the perceptual worlds. As previously mentioned, causality seems to be more a construct (Masin, 1993 [4]) than a "real" (ontological) process, and therefore it is difficult to defend the claim that our perceptions are reproductions or representations of the physical world because they are caused by it. As far as we know, one can only say that some characteristics of our perception can be correlated with some variables used by physical science to describe some aspects of the world; and moreover further linking propositions are needed for interpreting the formal symbolization (Teller, 1984 [5]). For instance, relationships between different tones in auditory perception (for instance one octave) can be correlated with corresponding relationships between frequencies of molecular vibrations; and relationships between different hues, perceived in specific conditions, can be correlated with some relationships between wavelengths of electromagnetic (e.m.) radiations. Nevertheless it would be wrong to conclude that colours are simply the perceptual aspects of e.m. radiations, or that sounds are correspondingly the perceptual aspects of material vibrations (inside a range of frequencies). The famous dilemma about whether a falling tree in the forest makes any noise (when there is nobody to hear it) receives a negative answer, and the same happens for the fire in the same forest which makes no light when nobody is there to see it. As sensations certainly depend on the particular cortex area activated by the sensory nerves, if the optic tracts and the auditory nerve were interchanged somewhere in the brain before reaching the cortex, we would see lights when the ears are stimulated by molecular vibrations and hear sounds when the eyes are stimulated by e.m. radiations. Lights and sounds still would keep some structural invariant relationships with the physical stimuli (for instance two colours might be correlated with a particular relationship between molecular vibrations, and correspondingly sounds would be correlated with relationships between e.m. waves), allowing thus the organism to correctly behave in the environment ("veridicality of perception", Logvinenko, 1996 [6]). In this case the falling tree would produce lights and not noises, while the fire would produce noises instead of light. So the phenomenal characteristics which distinguish lights from sounds are not derived by physical aspects of the world but only depend on the anatomical structure of our sensory systems. Lights and sounds are not so subjective to have nothing to do with the physical aspects of the world: the two realms are linked by a functional / relational dependency properly described by a set of formal relations. It remains to verify how useful as an explanation this description can actually be, especially if it is compared with other kinds of descriptions, for instance the phenomenological ones. An example of the priority of phenomenological variables is given by Rabin et al. (1992 [7]): an illusory Necker cube presented to stimulate S cones (only chromatic), is still perceived as long as its visibility allows: according to the authors, phenomenal visibility is the relevant variable, rather than the particular pathway traversed.

          One may notice that the visual system appears more complex than the auditory system: one reason could be that e.m. radiations are more effective in signalling environmental variations than molecular vibrations, especially because of the speed and directionality of the e.m. waves, and therefore they are predominantly used for quick and precise motor response allowing the organisms to fit the environment better. We conclude then that the characteristics of the perceptual world are characterised by our biological make up rather than by the physical world; they are not reducible to physical aspects, cannot be questioned by theories and only phenomenological descriptions are appropriate for them. There are still relevant relationships between some variables in the first realm and other variables in the second one, which psychophysics and neuro-physiology try to describe.

          According to experimental phenomenology, a rather old discipline directly derived from Gestalt theory, our phenomenal world can be described in terms of phenomenal concepts, i.e. of concepts that can be used to describe the content of our perception. For instance redness, lightness, shadow, and so on, are perceivable characteristics used to describe and communicate aspects of our phenomenal world. We know that unique red, like unique green, blue and yellow, can be defined only on a perceptual basis: R G B Y are then concepts referring to specific colour characteristics and how they appear in our phenomenal world. Unfortunately the same words and symbols (R G B, for instance) are also used to describe particular e.m. waves or combination of waves. It seems to be a common practice to use terms referring to one set of variables instead of the other when they are correlated (of course an ontological implication is often assumed when a formal correlation is found, presupposing causal relationships, which would justify the interchange of the two terms, the cause and the effect). In additive color mixing R G B stand for the corresponding radiations: in this case, moreover, R G B are not radiations but constructs, i.e. they mean all the sets of radiations which are correlated with the same apparent colour. Sometimes we devise some sets of abstract concepts which can be used to explain our perceptions: for instance, X Y Z are neither physical entities nor directly perceivable, but are analogous to R G B which are perceivable.

          Other examples of such constructs are: potential energy, electromagnetic field, gravitation on the physical side, receptive fields, mechanisms, filling-in, adaptation on the neuro-physiological side, making a hypothesis, unconscious inference, problem solving on the cognitive side, colour / illumination complementarity or splitting, belongingness, and figure-ground organization on the phenomenological side. The usefulness of constructs for making predictions can be appreciated in that a wider set of relationships are this way embraced which lead to the formulations of new hypotheses to be verified (Spillmann & Dresp, 1995 [8]). Sometimes experience itself can challenge some theoretical constructs. For example there are occasion when the unconscious inference of cognitive psychology breaks down: transitivity often does not hold in perception. If the two extremities of a coloured stripe which looks uniform match the extremities of another coloured stripe in a different context, this second stripe will not necessarily look also uniform (de Grandis, Fig. 7-17)

          To distinguish between psychophysical descriptions and phenomenal descriptions the concept of stimulus can be useful. Stimulus strictly means what can stimulate the sense organ, and receptors can be excited or inhibited by specific forms of physical energy. As distance and contact senses identify two main kind of sensory systems (Kardos, 1984 [9]), also the concept of stimulus assumes two traditional, different meanings: proximal stimulus is the form of energy which effectively reaches the receptors and acts on them (the molecules of some external body for touch, smell and taste receptors on the one hand, e.m. waves or vibrations for vision and hearing receptors on the other), while distant stimulus is considered the source where the proximal stimulus comes from (for instance a group of molecules emitting e.m. waves). Because of the tendency of exchanging the terms for cause and effect (for instance e.m. radiations / light; Liljefors, 1995 [10]) and of considering a formal dependency as causal relationship (Nakayama et al., 1990 [11]), both the distant stimulus for the distance sense and the proximal stimulus for the contact senses are frequently considered the "object" of our perception, what we "perceive". So, on the basis of a correlational dependency, a coloured object of our perceptual world is often considered as identical to the assembly of some molecules; in another view the coloured object is considered as the representation of the correlated molecules (Caivano, 1990 [12]. Assuming a more neutral philosophical position, we can remain safely on a correlational approach, with some further specifications about the possible asymmetry of the relationships. If from one set of relationships (for instance in the realm of physical entities) we derive more information than we do from the other set (for instance in the realm of perception), we may make inferences about "real" (ontological) relationships linking the two fields (Burigana, 1996 [13]). But this, although useful for making predictions, seems admissible only on an hypothetical ground. Psychologists often find that the contrary is true: an effect like transparency with coloured surfaces is much more completely described with reference to perceptual variables (colour similarities) rather than physical variables (radiations; da Pos, 1991).

          We are now ready for a basic distinction between two kinds of perceptual illusions (da Pos, 1997 [14]: A) on the one side an illusory perception is given when there are discrepancies between what we perceive (e.g. redness) and the physical, not perceivable variables ( e.g. wavelength) which are known to be correlated: I would call these psychophysical illusions. B) on the other side an illusory perception is given when the discrepancies appear within the phenomenal world, as, for instance, when the same perceived object appears now with some and now with contrasting characteristics: I would call these phenomenological illusions. Most people spontaneously refer to the first kind of illusion when asked about a personal definition, probably because of the naive identification of the perceived object with the stimulus. But it is rather evident that psychophysical illusions do not appear as such unless some more or less deep knowledge of psychophysical functions is reached. In this case, the illusory aspect of a percept is still referable to a more complex and exhaustive set of relationships. So a psychophysical illusion is not a mistake performed by our perceptual system, but simply involves a relationship with the physical variables structured in such a way that the behaviour of the animal is impaired. Perception is then mainly functional for movement responses, or more widely, for adaptive behaviour in the environment.

          Abstract intelligence has a higher cognitive value than perception, and in humans it allows the detection and overcoming of illusions, allowing a still better adaptation to the environment for which perception is inadequate. (Some illusions are just adaptatively neutral, e.g. brightness / lightness discrepancy, while other illusions may be seriously dangerous, as when linear acceleration is felt as an upward acceleration in speedy aeroplanes. Pilots have been known to crash while making what they feel to be corrections to the aircraft's trim). According to Boring (1942) , when such illusions are fully understood, they cannot be considered illusions anymore, because the lack of knowledge which justified the surprise of their discovery has been overcome. Phenomenal illusions on the contrary always keep their illusory characteristics as far as the same event appears (in perceptual sense) under contrasting aspects. Therefore the more direct is the connection of contrasting aspects with the same event, the stronger is the evidence of an illusion.

 

 


2. Classification.

          We can then distinguish different kinds of illusions according to the immediacy of the perceived link between opposing characteristics and the object which bears them.

Case A. In the visual field there is no change which could be ascribed to physical variations: the object in question appears alternatively with different characteristics only because of some changes on the part of the observer: either the time is just passing, or the fixation point has changed, or the attitude (global vs analytic) is different.

Case B. As before the visual field is still physically unchanged, but there are two objects (supposed to be identical) which appear different in different contexts. One common way of ascertaining the identity of two objects (colours, in most our cases) is to look at them in a reduction situation, i.e. through a reduction screen (Katz, 1935) or better through a black tube. It is possible to have the same results, at least in some cases (Masin, 1984 [15]) also assuming a proper attitude in a free vision .

Case C. There is only one critical object and its characteristics appear to change because either the object itself is moving or the context has undergone some changes.

In the cases A and C the identity of the object (for instance it is the same dog, the same stick, the same movement and so on) is directly perceived, while in B it is known through different sources of knowledge (I have been told, I produced it, I measured it, and so on).

Case D. The object is recognised as the same as one perceived some time before, but its characteristics look different. Remembering a previous perception is involved here.

Case E. Discrepancies are not perceived, but there are contrasts between what we know and what we see. A set of known correlations between physical or neuro-physiological and perceptual variables are supposed to hold while in a specific situation this does not happen. 

A list of examples involving colours are given in the following section

 

Case A.

          Differences connected with spatial arrangement.

as1 - partial transparency: the same object appears transparent in some parts of it and opaque in others (Metelli et al. 1981 [16], da Pos 1976 [17], Kozaki et al. 1989 [18]).

as2 - paradoxical transparency: one object appears not only opaque here and transparent there, but also of different colour (Metzger, 1955 [19])

as3 - the Mach book: surface colours and illumination appear different as a function of perceived three-dimensional organization (Mach, 1865)

as4 - Thiéry coloured prism: one region appears either in shadow or of different surface colour according to the perceived 3D organization (Gregory, 1994 [20])

as5 - Ambegujas: a four colour and six coplanar areas display appears of distinctive surface colours and illumination as a function of many different 3D organizations (Bergström et al., 1996)

as6 - a particular area of the visual field changes its colour characteristics passing from surface colour to shadow according to the 3D perceived organization of a cone (Logvinenko, 1994 [21])

as7 - Hermann grid: dark or coloured dots are not perceived in the fixation area (Spillmann, 1994)

 

          Differences which appear as time passes (after-effects of all kinds)

at1 - colour desaturate after prolonged observation

 

          Differences connected with perceptive attitude.

ap1 - the colour and illumination of an object changes as a function of its belongingness to different figural structure (Gilchrist, 1977) 

ap2 - metacontrast and attention: the disappearance of a first object as a consequence of the appearance of a second is prevented by particular figural organizations which depend on attention (Ramachandran, 1995)

ap3 - an analytical attitude reveals aspects of the objects that contrast with what is perceived when observing them with a global attitude:

ap3a - Kanizsa triangle and subjective contours (Kanizsa, 1976)

ap3b - Eherenstein, van Tujil, Varin, neon effects (Redies et al., 1984 [22], Goda, 1997 [23]).

 

Case B.

b1 - many contrast examples: the "same colours" or the "same coloured objects" appear different because placed in different coloured contexts.

b1a - For instance the two identical grey triangles in the Benáry cross appear different, despite locally identical contexts, because the contextual difference is in figural belongingness (Benáry, 1924)

b1b - the red and blue squares in the cover of the book by W.D. Wright (1958 [24]) appear different because they are perceived as lying over differently coloured figures

b1c - the White's effect: almost the same as in Wright's example but in the achromatic domain (although discovered as a "new effect" about 20 years later, White 1979)

b1c - an analogous chromatic example displayed by Hesselgren (1987 [25]) on the cover of his book "On Architecture".

b1d - some more recent examples by Adelson in the achromatic range (Adelson, 1993 [26]) and by Logvinenko (1997 [27]) in the chromatic one: in these cases the contexts of the two associated coloured regions differ not only in surface colour but also in perceived illumination (shadow), which makes the apparent colour difference much more evident.

b2 - many assimilation examples: as before, differences are perceived when the "same colours" are located in different colour contexts. One of the most famous example is taken from Bezold in the chromatic domain (von Bezold, 1874), and from Helson (1959 [28]) in the achromatic domain, but there are interesting examples also from Kanizsa (1957 [29]).

 

Case C.

          The object moves

co1 - subjective colours: since Fechner, Benham, and Bidwell either black and white displays or coloured disks are known to change their colour depending on whether or not they move, and on the direction of their movement (Spillmann, 1990). Intermittent lights produce analogous effects (Violetteffekt, Welpe, 1978)

co2 - colour from motion: a couple of effects are referred to here which show a colour spreading dependent on the perception of motion (Cicerone et al. 1995 [30]; Zanforlin, 1996 [31]) . A common feature is the appearance of 3D organization.
co3 - fluttering heart (Grünau von, 1976) and MacKay (1958) illusory displacement: a figure appears moving in relation to the background on which it is fixed when both are moved

co3 - red-blue moving slit illusion (Mollon & Polden, 1975): the blue part of a slit is seen moving behind the collinear red part when both are rigidly shifted.

 

          The object is constant and context is changed:

cc1 - the colour of a hole appears to change when the surrounding surface is differently illuminated (Hess & Pretori, 1884, 1970 [32])

cc2 - illusions dependent on spatial frequency: particular changes in the object, for instance the appearance of the neon effect (Redies et al., 1984) and spatial colour fusion (Cornsweet, 1970), are perceived when the observer approaches or goes away from the object.

cc3 - Purkinje effect: if the illumination of a scene is decreased or increased, the lightnesses of some objects appear mutually inverted (Purkinje, 1825).

cc4 - many aspects of the observed objects undergo more or less drastic changes when seen in reduction or in isolation (i.e. either through a holed screen or a black tube)

 

 


Case D

          The identity of the object whose characteristics are perceived conflicting is given by memory.

d1 - in the moon illusion, the surprise about its different sizes depends on our believing that it is the same moon.

 

Case E

e1 - Land retinex theory: perceived surface colours do not always correspond to the e.m. radiations reaching the eyes from the corresponding areas (Land, 1977 [33]).

e2 - Abney effect: changes in colorimetric purity are correlated with changes not only in saturation but also in hue (Abney, 1910)

e3 - Bezold-Brücke shift (Purdy, 1931): keeping constant the spectral composition of some radiations and changing only their power, observers notice changes not only in the intensity of the light, but also in its hue.

e4 - Helmholtz-Boswell-Kohlrausch effect: the brightness of saturated colours appears overestimated as compared with expectations based on their luminance (Nayatani, 1994)

e5 - Helson-Judd effect: under monochromatic illumination neutral surfaces appear either of the illuminant or of the complementary colour depending on their reflectance (Evans, 1948)

 

          One illusory phenomenon can belong in different categories. In agreement with Boring's suggestions, the effects of case E should not be considered illusions: after we have improved our knowledge about them, while illusions of cases A-C hold their deceptive appearance.

 

3. Concluding remarks.

          What have I proposed that is new? Where is its usefulness? First of all, not very much is new in the arguments which have been put forward to support the idea that illusions primarily deal with phenomenal discrepancies (Reynolds, 1988), and only secondarily with physical / psychological conflicts. In fact the history of psychology (Henle, 1976 [34]) shows that a consistent contribution has always been given in this direction, since Hering's phenomenological theorization on colours, Gestalt Psychology, and experimental phenomenology (Bozzi, 1989 [35]; Burigana, 1996 [13]).

          The main point has been to stress the elementary and logical importance of correlations between variables as tools for explaining our phenomenal world; and then the legitimation of the precedence of the phenomenal variables over the physical and neuro-physiological ones, especially from the point of view of informational and explicative power.

          I can see two reasons for the usefulness of the phenomenological approach to illusions: as surprise is considered to be strictly connected with the discovery of discrepancies, the more direct the perception of these discrepancies the more joyful is the resulting surprise (except for dangerous situations!). This might be the reason why illusions can be used effectively in art. On the other hand, once an illusion has been perceptually detected, further explanations are urged to establish a larger and more consistent network of relationships within which the event can be arranged, and this is why illusions are so widely treated by psychologists.

 

4. Bibliography.

 

For reason of space, references not listed here can be found in: da Pos O., Zambianchi E., Visual Illusions and Effects. A Collection. Illusioni ed effetti visivi. Una raccolta. (English - Italian), Guerini Studio, Milano, 1996.

 

[1] Westheimer G., Relating neural mechanisms to visual perception. Historical and philosophical considerations. In: L. Spillmann and J.S. Werner (Eds.), Visual perception. The neuro-physiological foundations. Academic Press, San Diego CA, 1990, 5-9.

[2] Uttal W.R., Do bridges exist between psychophysics and neurophysiology? In: Masin S.C. (Ed.), Fechner Day 96, Cleup, Padua, 1996, 1-21.

[3] Zrenner E., Abramov I., Akita M., Cowey A., Livingstone M., Valberg A., Color perception. Retina to cortex. In: L. Spillmann and J.S. Werner (Eds.), Visual perception. The neuro-physiological foundations. Academic Press, San Diego CA, 1990, 163-204..

[4] Masin S.C., Some philosophical observations on perceptual science, In: Masin S.C. (Ed.), Foundation of Perceptual Theory, Elsevier Science Publisher, 1993, 43-73.

[5] Teller D.Y., Linking propositions. Vision Research, 1984, 24, 1233-1246.

[6] Logvinenko A., Invariant relationships between achromatic colour, apparent illumination and shape of surface: implications for the colour constancy. In: C.Dickinson, I.Murray and D.Carden (Eds.), John Dalton's colour vision legacy, Taylor & Francis,1996, 591-597.

[7] Rabin J., Adams A.J., Switkes E., Perceptual ambiguity and the short wavelength sensitive visual path. Vision Research, 1992, 32, 399-401.

[8] Spillmann L., Dresp B., Phenomena of illusory form: can we bridge the gap between levels of explanation?, Perception, 1995, 24, 1333-1364.

[9] Kardos L., The origin of neuro-psychological information, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1984.

[10] Liljefors A., Redefine the term "Light"!, Proceedings of the 23rd Session of the CIE, New Delhi, India, Vol. 1, 1995.

[11] Nakayama K., Shimojo S., Ramachandran V.S., Transparency: relation to depth, subjective contours, luminance, and neon color spreading. Perception, 1990, 19, 497-513.

[12] Caivano J.L., Symbolicity in elementary visual signs. In: Haworth K., Deely J., Prewitt T. (Eds.), "Semiotics", with Bernard J., Deely J., Voigt V., Withalm G. (Eds.), "Symbolicity", University Press of America, Lanham, 1990, 46-55.

[13] Burigana L., Singolaritŕ della visione, Upsel Domeneghini Editore, Padova, 1996.

[14] da Pos O., Visual illusions and effects. In: Sivik L., Colour and Psychology, Scandinavian Colour Institute, Stokholm, 1997.

[15] Masin S.C., Quarta A., Experimental demonstration that observers produce unbiased estimates of reduction lightness in transparent surfaces. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 1984, 22, 529-530.

[16] Metelli F., Masin S.C., Manganelli A.M., Partial transparency, Atti dell'Accademia Patavina di Scienze Lettere ed Arti, 1981, 92, 115-169.

[17] da Pos O., Contributo teorico-sperimentale alla percezione della trasparenza parziale con colori. Analisi di un effetto paradossale osservato da W.Metzger. Atti dell'Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti, 1977, 135, 47-70.

[18] Kozaki T., Fukuda M., Nakano Y., Masuda N., Phenomenal transparency and other related phenomena, Hiyoshi Review of Natural Science (Keio University), 1989, 6, 68-81.

[19] Metzger W. Über Durchsichtigkeits-Erscheinungen (Vorlaüfige Mitteilung). Rivista di Psicologia, Fascicolo Giubilare, 1955, 49, 187-189.

[20] Gregory R.L., Even odder perceptions. Routledge, New York, 1994.

[21] Logvinenko A., Menshikova G., Trade-off between achromatic colour and perceived illumination as revealed by the use of psuedoscopic inversion of apparent depth. Perception, 1994, 23, 1007-1023.

[22] Redies C., Spillmann L., Kunz K., Coloured neon flanks and line gap enhancement. Vision Research, 1984, 24, 1301-1309.

[23] Goda N., Ejima Y. Additive effect of luminance and color cues in generation of neon color spreading, Vision Research, 1997, 37, 291-305.

[24] Wright W.D., The measurement of colour. Hilger and Watts, London, 1958.

[25] Hesselgren S., On Architecture. Studentlitteratur, Chartwell-Bratt, Bromley, 1987.

[26] Adelson E.H., Perceptual organization and the judgment of brightness, Science, 1993, 262, 2042-2044.

[27] Logvinenko, Effect of perceptual context on colour appearance, paper presented at the AIC COLOR '97 8th Congress, Kyoto, 1997.

[28] Helson H., Rohles H. jr., A quantitative study of the reversal of classical lightness-contrast. American Journal of Psychology, 1959, 72, 530-538.

[29] Kanizsa G., Gradient marginal et perception chromatique. In: I.Meyerson (Ed.), Problčmes de la couleur, Paris, SEVPEN, 1957, 107-114.

[30] Cicerone C.M., Hoffman D.D., Gowdy P.D., Kim J.S., The perception of color from motion. Perception & Psychophysics, 1995, 57, 761-777.

[31] Zanforlin M., Trasparenza anomala nei fenomeni stereocinetici (Anomalous transparency in stereokinetic phenomena). In: Bortolatto L., da Pos O. (Eds.), Effetto Trasparenza, Le Venezie, Treviso, 1996, 40-41.

[32] Hess C., Pretori H., Quantitative investigation of the lawfulness of simultaneous brightness contrast (Flocks H., Tenny J.H., trans.), Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1970, 31, 947-969. (Original work published 1884).

[33] Land E.H., The retinex theory of color vision. Scientific American , 1977, 237, 108-128.

[34] Henle M., Why study the history of psychology?, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1976, 270, 14-20.

[35] Bozzi P., Fenomenologia Sperimentale, Il Mulino, Bologna, 1989.

 

Osvaldo DA POS

Department of General Psychology

Via Venezia 8 - 35131 Padova  Italy

 

E-mail: dapos@psico.unipd.it

Tel: +39 49 8276680 - Fax: 8276600