Psych 303- Final Exam UPDATED ACTUAL
Exam Questions and CORRECT Answers
Functions of Color Perception - CORRECT ANSWER - - color signals help us classify
and identify objects
- color facilitates perceptual organization of elements into objects
- color vision may provide an evolutionary advantage in foraging for food.
Perception of color is related to________. - CORRECT ANSWER - - the wavelength of
light
visible spectrum - CORRECT ANSWER - - the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum
that we can see
- spans from 400 to 700 nm
Wavelength - CORRECT ANSWER - - the distance from the peak of one light or sound
wave to the peak of the next
- vary from the short blips of cosmic rays to the long pulses of radio transmission
Separating Various Wavelengths by Prism - CORRECT ANSWER - - the light that appears
white actually contains lights of many wavelengths
- a glass prism can separate lights of different wavelengths because these lights are bent at
different angles inside the prism.
Achromatic colors - CORRECT ANSWER - - black, white, and grays
Chromatic colors - CORRECT ANSWER - - all the other hues besides black, white, and
grays
,Saturation - CORRECT ANSWER - - vividness of a color; the relative amount of
whiteness in a chromatic color
Value - CORRECT ANSWER - - the light-to-dark dimension of color
Reflectance - CORRECT ANSWER - - the percentage of light reflected from a surface
Transmission - CORRECT ANSWER - - the percentage of light transmitted through media
(i.e. liquid)
Reflectance curves - CORRECT ANSWER - - the graphs showing the percentage of
reflectance as a function of wavelength
Additive color mixture - CORRECT ANSWER - - obtained by mixing lights
- superimposing blue and yellow lights leads to white
- i.e. spotlights, TV, computer screen
Subtractive color mixture - CORRECT ANSWER - - obtained by mixing paints with
different pigments; additional pigments reflect less wavelengths, leading to darker appearance
- mixing blue and yellow leads to green
- i.e. mixing paints, using filters repeatedly
Trichromatic Theory of Color Vision - CORRECT ANSWER - - proposed by Young and
Helmholtz (1800s)
- three different receptor mechanisms are responsible for color vision
*Psychophysical evidence for trichromatic theory: color-matching experiment
3 types of cones - CORRECT ANSWER - - short-wavelength sensitive cones (S cones,
blue)
, - middle-wavelength sensitive cones (M cones, green)
- long-wavelength sensitive cones (L cones, red)
Principle of Univariance - CORRECT ANSWER - - individual receptors respond to light
stimulus in only one dimension, thus they cannot tell what the wavelength of the light is
Color Matching Experiment - CORRECT ANSWER - - observer adjusts the amount of
lights of three wavelengths of a comparison field (mixture of 3 lights) so that the test field (light
of one wavelength) matches the comparison field
- repeat the procedure for the test field to cover the entire visible spectrum
Color Matching Experiment Results - CORRECT ANSWER - - observers with normal
color vision need three wavelengths of lights in order to match all the lights in the visible
spectrum
- observers with severe color vision deficiencies can match the entire visible spectrum by using
only 2 lights
Response of Cones and Color Perception - CORRECT ANSWER - - one cone type cannot
enable color vision
- our nervous system has to compare signals from different cone types
Opponent-Process Theory of Color Vision - CORRECT ANSWER - - proposed by Hering
(1800s)
- perception of color is based on the output of three opponent mechanisms: Red-Green, Blue-
Yellow, Black-White
Psychophysical Evidence for Opponent-Process Theory - CORRECT ANSWER - - Colors
you can see at the same time at the same location
- Never red and green, never blue and yellow
- Hue cancellation experiment
- Complementary afterimages (successive contrast)
Exam Questions and CORRECT Answers
Functions of Color Perception - CORRECT ANSWER - - color signals help us classify
and identify objects
- color facilitates perceptual organization of elements into objects
- color vision may provide an evolutionary advantage in foraging for food.
Perception of color is related to________. - CORRECT ANSWER - - the wavelength of
light
visible spectrum - CORRECT ANSWER - - the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum
that we can see
- spans from 400 to 700 nm
Wavelength - CORRECT ANSWER - - the distance from the peak of one light or sound
wave to the peak of the next
- vary from the short blips of cosmic rays to the long pulses of radio transmission
Separating Various Wavelengths by Prism - CORRECT ANSWER - - the light that appears
white actually contains lights of many wavelengths
- a glass prism can separate lights of different wavelengths because these lights are bent at
different angles inside the prism.
Achromatic colors - CORRECT ANSWER - - black, white, and grays
Chromatic colors - CORRECT ANSWER - - all the other hues besides black, white, and
grays
,Saturation - CORRECT ANSWER - - vividness of a color; the relative amount of
whiteness in a chromatic color
Value - CORRECT ANSWER - - the light-to-dark dimension of color
Reflectance - CORRECT ANSWER - - the percentage of light reflected from a surface
Transmission - CORRECT ANSWER - - the percentage of light transmitted through media
(i.e. liquid)
Reflectance curves - CORRECT ANSWER - - the graphs showing the percentage of
reflectance as a function of wavelength
Additive color mixture - CORRECT ANSWER - - obtained by mixing lights
- superimposing blue and yellow lights leads to white
- i.e. spotlights, TV, computer screen
Subtractive color mixture - CORRECT ANSWER - - obtained by mixing paints with
different pigments; additional pigments reflect less wavelengths, leading to darker appearance
- mixing blue and yellow leads to green
- i.e. mixing paints, using filters repeatedly
Trichromatic Theory of Color Vision - CORRECT ANSWER - - proposed by Young and
Helmholtz (1800s)
- three different receptor mechanisms are responsible for color vision
*Psychophysical evidence for trichromatic theory: color-matching experiment
3 types of cones - CORRECT ANSWER - - short-wavelength sensitive cones (S cones,
blue)
, - middle-wavelength sensitive cones (M cones, green)
- long-wavelength sensitive cones (L cones, red)
Principle of Univariance - CORRECT ANSWER - - individual receptors respond to light
stimulus in only one dimension, thus they cannot tell what the wavelength of the light is
Color Matching Experiment - CORRECT ANSWER - - observer adjusts the amount of
lights of three wavelengths of a comparison field (mixture of 3 lights) so that the test field (light
of one wavelength) matches the comparison field
- repeat the procedure for the test field to cover the entire visible spectrum
Color Matching Experiment Results - CORRECT ANSWER - - observers with normal
color vision need three wavelengths of lights in order to match all the lights in the visible
spectrum
- observers with severe color vision deficiencies can match the entire visible spectrum by using
only 2 lights
Response of Cones and Color Perception - CORRECT ANSWER - - one cone type cannot
enable color vision
- our nervous system has to compare signals from different cone types
Opponent-Process Theory of Color Vision - CORRECT ANSWER - - proposed by Hering
(1800s)
- perception of color is based on the output of three opponent mechanisms: Red-Green, Blue-
Yellow, Black-White
Psychophysical Evidence for Opponent-Process Theory - CORRECT ANSWER - - Colors
you can see at the same time at the same location
- Never red and green, never blue and yellow
- Hue cancellation experiment
- Complementary afterimages (successive contrast)
