Citation

Kingdom FAA. Curr. Opin. Behav. Sci. 2019; 30: 15-20.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.cobeha.2019.04.014

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Colour vision is not only useful for identifying hues but for determining the structure of the visual world. This latter use of colour vision exploits the physical relationships that exist between the pattern of colour (chromatic) and luminance variations in the natural environment. I argue that one important role for colour vision in this regard is to help distinguish material variations from variations in local light intensity, where material variations include changes in pigmentation, paint, stain and so on, and light intensity variations include shadows, shading and highlights. In fullfilling this role, colour vision enhances our ability to use variations in local light intensity to help identify the shapes and material properties of objects and surfaces. Such a role for colour vision reinforces the view that colour is integral to form processing in human vision.

Language: en