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Categorical sensitivity to color differences

Categorical sensitivity to color differences
Categorical sensitivity to color differences
Categorical perception provides a potential link between color perception and the linguistic categories that correspond to the basic color terms. We examined whether the sensory information of the second-stage chromatic mechanisms is further processed so that sensitivity for color differences yields categorical perception. In this case, sensitivity for color differences should be higher across than within category boundaries. We measured discrimination thresholds (JNDs) and color categories around an isoluminant hue circle in Derrington-Krauskopf-Lennie (DKL) color space at three levels of lightness. At isoluminant lightness, the global pattern of JNDs coarsely followed an ellipse. Deviations from the ellipse coincided with the orange-pink and the blue-green category borders, but these minima were also aligned with the second-stage cone-opponent mechanisms. No evidence for categorical perception of color was found for any other category borders. At lower lightness, categories changed substantially, but JNDs did not change accordingly. Our results point to a loose relationship between color categorization and discrimination. However, the coincidence of some boundaries with JND minima is not a general property of color categorical boundaries. Hence, our basic ability to discriminate colors cannot fully explain why we use the particular set of categories to communicate about colors. Moreover, these findings seriously challenge the idea that color naming forms the basis for the categorical perception of colors. With respect to previous studies that concentrated on the green-blue boundary, our results highlight the importance of controlling perceptual distances and examining the full set of categories when investigating category effects on color perception.
1534-7362
1-33
Witzel, Christoph
dfb994f1-7007-441a-9e1a-ddb167f44166
Gegenfurtner, Karl R.
4a15dafb-60db-41c6-a845-b0f37bee8d3e
Witzel, Christoph
dfb994f1-7007-441a-9e1a-ddb167f44166
Gegenfurtner, Karl R.
4a15dafb-60db-41c6-a845-b0f37bee8d3e

Witzel, Christoph and Gegenfurtner, Karl R. (2013) Categorical sensitivity to color differences. Journal of Vision, 13 (7), 1-33. (doi:10.1167/13.7.1).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Categorical perception provides a potential link between color perception and the linguistic categories that correspond to the basic color terms. We examined whether the sensory information of the second-stage chromatic mechanisms is further processed so that sensitivity for color differences yields categorical perception. In this case, sensitivity for color differences should be higher across than within category boundaries. We measured discrimination thresholds (JNDs) and color categories around an isoluminant hue circle in Derrington-Krauskopf-Lennie (DKL) color space at three levels of lightness. At isoluminant lightness, the global pattern of JNDs coarsely followed an ellipse. Deviations from the ellipse coincided with the orange-pink and the blue-green category borders, but these minima were also aligned with the second-stage cone-opponent mechanisms. No evidence for categorical perception of color was found for any other category borders. At lower lightness, categories changed substantially, but JNDs did not change accordingly. Our results point to a loose relationship between color categorization and discrimination. However, the coincidence of some boundaries with JND minima is not a general property of color categorical boundaries. Hence, our basic ability to discriminate colors cannot fully explain why we use the particular set of categories to communicate about colors. Moreover, these findings seriously challenge the idea that color naming forms the basis for the categorical perception of colors. With respect to previous studies that concentrated on the green-blue boundary, our results highlight the importance of controlling perceptual distances and examining the full set of categories when investigating category effects on color perception.

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Published date: 3 June 2013

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 438803
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/438803
ISSN: 1534-7362
PURE UUID: 58c6e935-73fe-4dc1-b8cf-11ed51ac9b49
ORCID for Christoph Witzel: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9944-2420

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Date deposited: 24 Mar 2020 17:52
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:00

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Author: Karl R. Gegenfurtner

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