Shape and color in apparent motion

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Abstract

The resolution of disparity between two shapes that are flashed at appropriate spatial and temporal separations is smooth and continuous. The present inquiry was directed at the corresponding resolution of disparate colors. Presented with a red and a green, say, the visual system could desaturate one to a neutral point and then saturate the other from that point; or it could allow the red to change through orange and yellow to green, for example. Neither of these occurred. No intermediaries were found between two discriminably different colors: rather, one changed abruptly to the other. The abrupt change of color occurred even when the stimuli were doubly disparate, in shape and color. Then the shape was seen to change gradually, the color to change abruptly, but color was always seen filling in the contours of the apparently changing shape.

Zusammenfassung

Zwei unterschiedliche Forsen, die in den geeigneten räumlichen und zeitlichen Abständen kurzzeitig beleuchtet werden, verwandeln sich glatt und kontinuierlich in einander. Die gegenwärtige untersuchung hatte die entsprechende verwandlung zweier unterschiedlicher Farben zun Ziel. Wenn zun Beispiel ein Rot und ein Grün dargeboten werden, könnte das visuelle System die eine Farbe zu einea neutralen Punkt hin desaturieren nnd dann die andere von dieses Punkt aus wieder saturieren; oder es könnte des Rot gestatten, sich zua Beispielüber orange und gelb in grün zu verwandein. Keine von beiden Möglichkeiten trat ein. Es wurden keine Zwischenstufen zwischen zwei unterscheidbaren Farben gefanden: vielsehr verwandelte sich die eine Farbe abrupt in die andere. Der abrupte Farbwechsel erfolgte sogar, wenn die beiden Beize in zweifacher Hinsicht ungleich waren, naslich in Fora und Farbe. Dann konnte an beobachten, dass sich die Fora alaählichänderte, während die karbe abrupt wechselte: aber an konnte auch sehen, dass die Farbe inner die Kenturen der sich scheinbarändernden Fora ausfüllte.

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This work was supported by Grant A 7655 from the National Research Council of Canada; the second author was supported by a pre-doctoral fellowship from NRC. A preliminary report of these results has been published (Kolers and von Grünau, 1975). They were first presented to the annual meeting of ARVO, April 1974.

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