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(I993)
I03-I35
ABSTRACT
exampleof allegedlyneurophysiologically
Probablycolouris the bestworked-out
innateresponsecategoriesdeterminingperceptsand perceptsdeterminingconcepts,andhencebiologyfixingthebasiccategoriesimplicitin theuseoflanguage.
In this paperI argue against this view and I take C. L. Hardin'sColorfor
Philosophers[1988] as my main target.I startby underminingthe view that
fouruniquehues standapartfromall othercolourshades(Section2) and the
confidencethat the solar spectrumis naturallydividedinto four categories
(Section3). Forsuch categoriesto be trulyuniversal,they have to be true for
all peoplesandin Section4 I showthatBerlinandKay's[1969] widelyquoted
theoryof basic colourcategoriesis not sufficientlysupportedto lend it any
credibility.
Havingdisposedof the view that inspectionof languageor 'pure'perception
and
unveils the universalcolour categories,I turn to neurophysiological
theoriesof colourvisionto see whethertheyprovidea moresolid
psychophysical
basisfordecidingwhat the innateresponsecategoriesare.In Section5 I show
theoryneithersupportshis view
that Hardin'saccountof the opponent-process
' takesplaceearlyin the visualneuralpathway,norhis view
that 'colour-coding
that knowledgeof colourvisionsciencewill help us solvemany philosophical
mysteriesaboutcolour.
In Section6 I give a moredetailedreviewof what is knowntodayaboutthe
of colourvisionand I show that theres nothingin the brain
neurophysiology
whichcouldbe calleda colourmodule,let alonea modulewith homunculifor
models
basiccolourcategories.In Section7 I showthatpsychophysical
particular
do not supportsuch rigid constraintson categoryformationeither. Hence
(Section8), at least in the case of colour,currentsciencesupportsa plasticity
of those
in the formationof categoriesthat goes far beyondthe requirements
who wouldliketo groundprimitiveconceptsin biology.
philosophers
naturalistic
1
2
3
4
Introduction
TheAllegedNaturalPrimacyof Four UniqueHues
Dividingup the SolarSpectrum
TheAllegedUniversalityof ElevenBasic Colours
Criticism
4.1 Methodological
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J. Van Brakel
INTRODUCTION
SeveraldisciplinesoSer theories accordingto which there are severe constraints on what concepts can be formedto categorizethe experimental
world. Take or leave a few details, a number of primitiveconcepts are
assumed to be biologicallyinnate, wired into the brain as prototypes,
modules,or gestalts,the result of evolutionaryinteractionof the organism
with its environment.As Fodor([1981], p. 312) writesabout emotions:
Considersuchfolk-psychological
conceptsas ANGRY,SAD, HAPPY,etc. I think
there'sno doubtthat these are acquiredearly,that they must have been part
of the universalprehistoryof our species,and that they are easily introduced
by ostension.
IOS
and whatwe can learn from science is that 'it is the biologicalperspective
which is the via mediabetween. . . colorsin the extradermalphysicalworld
and . . . the propertiesof sense data' [H58]. His methodis 'to supposethat
phenomenalsimilaritiesand diSerencesare rooted in and to be explicated
[H127]. Philosophicallythis will
by physiologicalsimilaritiesanddiiYerences'
problems'
[H181]; in particular:
'providefreshapproachesto stagnant
(a) 'We are to be eliminativistswith respectto coloras a propertyof objects,
but reductivistswith respectto color experiences'[H112].
(b) 'the semanticsof ordinarycolor terms is powerfullyconstrainedby the
physiologyof the human visual system' [Ekxii].
Hence, Wittgensteinand his followersare wide of the mark in trying to
findsolutionsin the use of language.Forexample,the relationsbetweenthe
meaningsof colour words can be explainedwith referenceto the existence
of two opponentpairs of uniquehues or primitivecolours: red/green and
blue/yellow.And the cross-culturaluniversalityof the constraintson the
orderingof the colourspaceis supportedby Berlinand Kay's[1969] theory
of basiccolourterms (to be discussedbelow).
In this paper I shall concentrate on the relation between naming
colours and the science of colour vision and I shall concludethat biology
does not set any interestingconstraintson colour semantics.I am sceptical
about:
(a) theories about pre-linguisticor pre-conceptualcognitive experiences
(such as categoricalperception),invoking privilegedsalient categories
innate to the human race;3
2
In square bracketsI give referencesto Hardin'sbook using 'H' followedby the page
number.Although I often quote literally,the passages so indicatedshould be taken as
paraphrasesof how I interpretHardin'sposition.
For categoricalperceptionsee Harnad[1987]; for pre-conceptualbodily experiencessee
[1987]. It is possible,of course,to arguethat on a pre-linguisticcognitivelevel there
LakoW
are a numberof primitivecolours,the presenceof which may be blurredby 'mistaken'
conceptualschemesembodiedin language,but this is not Hardin'sline. Forexamplesof this
approachsee Kay and Kempton[1984] and Lakoff[1987], who assumethat basic colour
categoriesare cognitivelyinnate, but these cognitive capacitiesmay be suppressedby
language.
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13
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III
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4.1 Methodological
Criticisms
In reviewsof BerlinandKay[1969] theirworkwas describedas an outdated
form of science, hastily conducted, gathering data in a slapdash way,
containingmany ethnographicerrorsand uncriticallyacceptingaccounts
by writerswho had theoreticalaxes to grind.20
Furthermore,all subsequentworkin the BerlinandKaytraditionhas been
carriedout with MunsellColour
Chipsand standardizedproceduresto elicit
BCTs.It has been estimatedthat in doing this 95 per cent of the world's
colour words are eliminated.The decontextualizationalso eliminates all
aspectsof semanticor symbolicdepth.If colour is stronglyembeddedin a
culturallysalient semanticnetwork,measuringBCCswill of course mirror
the propertiesof this structure.For example,eight BCTsare found in the
Khmerlanguage(Cambodia).Insteadof assigninga particularevolutionary
stage to this culture on the basis of there being eight BCCs,it is obviously
morecrucialto note that all Khmerspeakersknow variousmyths aboutthe
origin of colours such as the story of 'Eight-Colours-Crystal-Woman
'.
Similarly,having a three-colour-symbolism
(many Africancultures) or a
five-coloursymbolism(forexample,Turkish,MandarinChinese)will strongly
influencethe 'salience' of colour words in the particularlanguage, if not
predeterminethe numberof BCTsthat will be found.
Moretechnicalcriticismsof using a fixedset of 320 colourchipsinclude:
(a) In elicitingthe foci data the 320 chips are shown togetheron a chart
(with hue changing horizontallyand brightnessvertically).It is well
documentedthat the appearanceof colour dependson its environment
l9 In the next subsectionsI give examplesfrommany differentlanguagesdrawingon a few
hundredpublications,all of which it is not practicalto mention here. More detailed
surveys,includingfull bibliographiescan be found in Saunders[1992] and van Brakel
[forthc.].Manyof the relevantreferencescan also be foundin BerlinandKay[1969], Kay
and McDaniel[1978], Kay and Kempton[1984], MacLaury[1987], Saundersand van
Brakel[1988], Tornay[1978], see also van Brakel[1992a, 1992b].
20 The originaltheory was based on 98 languages:for 20 languagesactual colour-naming
experimentswere carriedout with speakersof those languagesin the San FranciscoBay
area (with the exceptionof Tzeltal);for 12 languagesdata were obtainedfrompersonal
contacts with linguistsand anthropologists;for the remaining66 languagesdata were
extractedfromdictionariesand ethnographies.
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J. Van Brakel
of Basic ColourTerm
4.3 TheDe.finition
A detailed discussion of the original definitionof BCT and subsequent
alternativeproposalsis outsidethe scopeof this article.23Eachof the proposed
criteriahas been criticizedbecause of vagueness,internalconsistency,and
for mixing up linguisticand psychologicalcriteria.24Evenwhen appliedin
such a way that lends generalsupportfor the Berlinand Kay theory,there
are many possibleexceptionsfor theirbeing exactlyeleven BCTs.In English
and Germanturquoisemight be a BCT.Frenchand Russianmay have two
BCTs for brown. Russian has two BCTs for blue; Hungarian two for
red. Thereis an extensiveliteraturedeliberatingwhetherRussianhas zero,
one, two or threeBCTsforpurple.In CoastCroatianolive is definitelya BCT.
And we haven't even left Europe.25
Perhaps the most telling of the sort of methodologythat went into
22
23
24
25
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of BCCs
for the Universality
4.4 OtherExplanations
Even if it were true that opinions about colour foci around the world
exemplifyeleven BCCsor a specificsubset of them, this universalitycould
have many reasons.It could be that all peoplesof the world are endowed
with the same eleven Platonicbasic colourforms,which they draw on to a
greateror lesserextent. But there are other possibilitiesas well:
(a) Languagesmay have similarsets of BCCsbecauseof (former)geographical
proximity.(Thispointappliesprimarilyto the validityof the evolutionary
part of the theory.)
(b) Cross-languagestabilityof particularcolour saliencesmight be related
to the stabilityof certainkindsof colouredobjectsoccurringuniversally,
for example,blood and firefor red.26
(c) The most plausible explanation for the ubiquity of common colour
meaningsin twentieth-centurylanguagesis, I believe,that it reflectsthe
spreadof culturalimperialismand commontechnology,in particularthe
inventionof artificialdyes. Moreover,in the twentiethcenturythere are
very few monolingual speakersleft who don't use loan words from
westernlanguages.27
26
27
However,one can never be carefulenough in taking what seems natural at face value.
For example,the sky is known in numerouslanguagesas 'prototypically'blue (or light
blue), but in a survey of Italian dialects answers to the question about the colour of
the sky includeddescriptionslike 'knows no colour for the sky' and 'great embarrassment'.
Consider,for example,Khmer(Cambodia)sukulaand Gujarati(India)shoklati,i.e. brown,
which somehowgot there fromSpanish(perhapsvia Tagalogin the Philippines),whereas
the Spanishgot the wordfromNahuatl(Mexico)chokolatl(foodmadefromcacao seeds).In
for brown, fromSpanishcafe(coffee).Kilivila(Melanesia)has
returnNahuatlhas kafentik
kwinin(yellow),from'quinine'(a yellow anti-malariadrug),and so on.
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J. Van Brakel
4.5 UnnamedCategories
Berlinand Kay relatethe evolutionarydevelopmentof the numberof BCTs
to a culture'stechnologicaldevelopment.However,the fact that we do not
have Basic OdourTerms does not mean that the Western Flavoursand
FlagrancesSyndicateis underdeveloped.The fact that there are no words
forcertaincategoriesdoes not say very much aboutthe culturalsignificance
of the category,let alone the generallevel of technologicaldevelopment.In
Ancient Egyptpeoplemanagedfor thousandsof years without a word for
blue, but blue was the most prestigiouspaintedcolour.
Of course, the absence of linguisticcategoriesfor certain BCCsgives an
ideal opportunityto check whether at a pre-linguistic,cognitive level the
BCCsare there anyway. Probablythe work of Rosch is the one single-most
completeeSort to show that the eleven BCCsare universalcognitive
categories.28However:
(a) All Rosch's work is concerned with establishing the existence of
elevenBCCs,which is not directlyrelevantto the issue of four unique
hues.
(b) She did several types of experimentsto test the evolutionaryorder
of the Berlin and Kay sequence. In all cases the sequence was not
confirmed.
(c) What was confirmedin most of her experimentswas the universal
primacyof focal colours.They are the most preferredcolours;the best
remembered;the easiest to learn; and so on. However,as pointedout
in Section4.1, this resultonly atteststhe primacyof the most saturated
exemplar within a colour category, not the existence of particular
universalcolours.29
(d) Hardinrefersspecficiallyto her work with the Dani (New Guinea).It's
thereforeof interestto note that Rosch[1973: 340] reportsthat the Dani
'were unwillingto designateone of the color chips as the most typical
member'.
28
29
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4.6 BCCsandUniqueHues
Assumethat all the abovecriticismscan be countered.30Assumethat there
universal BCCs(although not all
is no doubt that there really are eleven
peoplesemploythem all). Thereis still a problemto presentthis as support
for their beingfourunique hues, which are biologicallyinnate. What about
BCCsBerlinand Kay have foundto exist?Ironically,had
the other universal
Hardinbeen awareof subsequentpublicationsof Kayand collaborators(Kay
and McDaniel[1978], Kay and Kempton[1984], MacLaury[1987]), he
might have found even better supportfor his belief that BCCsare neurophysiologicallywired in. Kay and McDaniel[1978] draw on the same six
primitive opponent colours as Hardin, i.e. they argue that there is a
physiologicalbase for six primitiveBCCsand, derivatively,forfive secondary
ones. Thereare some problemsin takingthe Kayand McDanielmodelas an
extensionof the originalBerlinand Kay theory,but let's not dwell on that.
Therestill remaintwo more generalproblems.
Firstly,it is assumedthat the four unique hues correspondto the foci of
the red, green,yellow and blue BCCs.However,foci are as easily elicitedfor
secondaryBCCsor any other colourterm. So how can we be sure that the
foci measurebiologicallybasedunique hues in some cases, but not in other
cases?Moreover,although it is concludedthat foci are universallyagreed
upon, this law has to be takenwith a pinch of salt. In actualfact everypoint
along the spectrumhas been chosen as a focal point for some BCCby some
speakers.The apparentorder in the publishedcolour maps simply arises
becausethere is a universaltendencyto choose the most saturatedchips as
foci and not to place foci on very light or very darkpatches.
Secondly,how are we going to explain the many languages that have
less than six BCCs,combining two or more primitivecolours into one
category? There are hundreds of languages mapping blue and green
togetherunder one BCT.31Shuswap speakers(on the N.W. Pacificcoast),
to name a yellow-greencategory(i.e.includingyellow
use the word kwaalt
30
31
The examplesin Notes 314 (and also 25) shouldbe seen in this light. When I describea
languageas having,say, one BCTcoveringyellowand green,this is not a factof the matter,
but subjectto the criticismsoutlinedin Sections4.14.3.
For example,speakersof some Italiandialectsuse verdeto referto both green and blue.
Hence,they'lluse a minimumof three wordsto name the coloursof the spectrum.Also
Zuluhas only one BCTforblue and greentogether.Whenthey want to makesure it's one
or the other they'll say 'grue like the sky' or 'grue like grass', which isn't the same as
peopleofteninsiston makinga clear
recognizingblue and greenas BCCs.English-speaking
distinctionbetweenapple-greenand lime-green,but it doesn'tfollowthat both are BCCs.
Onereasonfor therebeingmany languageswhich map green and blue togethermight be
that there'sa strongertendencyto distinguishcolouraccordingto brightnessin this part
of the spectrum.For example, Nahuatl and Tlapanec(both Mexico) seem to employ
separateBCTsfor green,turquoise,blue and violet,but in fact referto differentdegreesof
brightnessin the blue-greenregionand may say in Spanish(using 'standard'translations)
that the sky is greenor violet.
J.
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VanBrakel
HARDIN
S ACCOUNT
OF COLOUR VISION
In his book Hardingives a survey of the state of the art in colour science,
which is presentlydominatedby the psychophysicaltheory of 'opponentprocesses'. In this section I summarizeseparatelythe parts of Hardin's
accountthat drawon neurophysiologyand psychophysics,althoughHardin
himselfis not very concernedwith this distinction.Next I discusshis claim
32 In the Berlin and Kay tradition the occurrence of a yellow-green category is considered more
threatening because it combines a 'warm' and a 'cool' colour. Other languages which have
one term covering both green and yellow include: Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, at least 13 Salish
languages, most Wakashan languages, a Haida dialect and both Tsimshian languages (all
Canada), several Ainu dialects (Japan), Aguaruna (Brazil), Klamath (USA), two Numic
languages (Mexico), Natchez (USA), Creek (USA), Jicaque (Honduras), Fanti (Ghana), several
languages in/near Australia (Arunta, 'Fitzroy River', Murinbata, Martu Wangka, 'Queensland', 'Seven Rivers').
33 There are also a number of reports on languages which have one BCTcovering two opponent
colours: Ainu (Japan), Daza (Nigeria), Proto-Slavic, Pukapuka (Samoa). This information
may be less reliable, but the explanations offered are not implausible. For example, in the
vegetative domain green = fresh red. Occurrences of yellow and blue under the same
dictionary entry may arise because of the suppression of the brightness domain: light blue
and yellow may go together as bright colours, whereas dark blue would go with 'black'.
(Of course, on the Berlin and Kay theory this is rendered as YELLOWand BLACKpresent,
but not BLUE.)
34 Languages with one BCT for blue + green (or, much less common, one term for green +
yellow) and at least one BCT for (something like) purple, orange, brown, or pink include
Angaatiha (Papua New Guinea), Bodi (Ethiopia), Cofan (Ecuador), Chayahuita (Peru),
Chinantec (Mexico),Didinga (Sudan), Haisla (Canada),Huastec (Mexico),Kapsiki(Cameroon),
Makah (USA), Menye (New Guinea), Mikasuki (USA), Mixtec (Mexico), Mono (USA), Navaho
(USA), Ocaina (Peru), Paiute (USA), Papago (USA), Tikopia (Polynesia), Tlapanec (Mexico),
Vietnamese, Wester Apache (USA), Yupik (Alaska), Yucuna (Columbia). Compare also
Note 31.
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Account
5.1 Neurophysiological
In the retina of the eye there are two types of photoreceptorssensitiveto
visualstimuli:rodsand cones.Visualstimulireachingthe eye consistof light
which, for the present purpose,will be characterizedby wavelength and
intensity only. Rods are specializedfor perceivingachromaticcontrast at
night. Conesoperateunderdaytimelight levels and produceboth chromatic
and achromaticperceptions.They differin their absorptionspectra:the
efficiencywith which they absorblight of diSerentwavelengths.The L-cones
are most sensitiveto lon:gwavelengths,M-conesto medium, and S-cones
to short wavelengths.35Coloursensationsdependupon the relativerates of
absorptionof light in the L-,M- and S-cones.However,the signal passedon
by an individualcone preservesno informationaboutthe wavelengthof the
light that is being absorbed:single cones are colour-blind.Also a particular
stimuluspatternof the receptorscan be causedby morethan one wavelength
distributionof the incominglight. This explainsthe phenomenonof metamers,the fact that objectswhich reflectdiSerentspectramay have the same
phenomenalcolour.
In fact, this descriptionof the cone mechanismis alreadytendentious,
modelof perception.The
assuminga strictlydeterministicstimulus-response
followingalternativemight be slightlybetter:perceptionof colourin normal
circumstancesdependssomehow on the combinedstimulationof the three
types of cones, i.e. colour perceptionsusually dependon the proportionsin
which the three cone types are activatedby an objectand its surrounding;
this activityis a functionof how the cones were stimulatedin the past and
is not always processedin the same way at higher levels in the brain.
Cones (and rods) connect, interalia, to retinal ganglion cells, which
have opponentproperties.This means the following:two sets of receptors
are connectedto a single ganglion cell. One set subservesthe centre of the
cell's receptivefieldand anotherits surround.The cell is calledan opponent
cell because simultaneousstimulationof the centre and surround leads
to no response (e.g. when the whole receptive field of the cell is filled
with the same light),but a spot on eitherthe centreor the surroundexcites
the cell.
35
Becauseof the predominanceof the trichromaticcolour theory in the first half of the
twentieth century, the cones are still often called the blue, greenand red cones. The
trichromatictheoryof colourvision was firstproposedat the beginningof the nineteenth
centuryby ThomasYoungand foundsupportwhen Maxwelland Helmholtzdemonstrated
that all the spectralcolourswe see can be completelymatchedby mixturesof threesuitable
spectrallights.
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J. Van Brakel
5.2 Psychophysical
Account
The psychophysicaltheory of opponent-processeswhich Hardin presents
consistsof two parts.36
(1) Certaincolouredlights when mixedcancel each other, for examplered
and greenlight mixedin the rightproportionyieldswhite light, whereas
it is impossibleto obtaina reddishgreen.Apparentlyred and green are
somehow antagonistic.To explain this it is assumed that brightness
(white) is the result of some sort of summing of cone outputs, while
perceivedhues are the resultof some sortof diSerencingof cone outputs.
The diSerencing or subtracting mechanism can also explain why
humans have a sharp colour discrimination,although the absorption
curvesof the three cone types overlapconsiderably.
(2) This generalidea is then workedout by assumingthat there are three
colour-opponentchannels, includingone achromaticchannel, yielding
six BCCs:
(a) The summed output of the L and M cones gives the achromatic
channel: L + M > O codes for whiteness, L + M < O codes for
blackness.
36
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38
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Cells
6.1 Single-opponent
Single-opponentcells among retinal and LGNganglion cells can display
spatial opponency,colour opponency,or both. A spatiallyantagonisticor
opponentcell has a receptivefieldconsistingof an 'on ' or 'off' circularcentre
andan annularsurroundof the oppositesign, wherethe centreandsurround
are connectedto diSerentparts of the retina. Such cells do not respondto
the absolutelevel of illumination,but rather to diSerencesin illumination
in differentregions of their receptivefield. If the same type of cones is
subservingthe centreandsurround,the cell is spectrallynon-opponent.Such
broad-bandcells are usually phasic,i.e. they respond with a transient
discharge to the on/oS-set of light stimuli. If centre and surround are
connectedto diSerenttypes of cones, the cell is also wavelength-opponent
and usuallytonic,i.e.the dischargerateof actionpotentials(impulses,spikes)
is sustainedthroughthe whole periodof light stimulation.39If in the latter
but not
case centreand surroundcoincide,the cell is wavelength-opponent,
however,
that:
spatiallyantagonistic.Note,
(a) A small spot of light may cover the receptivefieldsof many ganglion
cells, some of which are excitedand othersinhibited.
(b) The interactionbetweenthe on- and oF-regionsvarieswith the state of
adaptationas well as with the locationof the receptivefieldon the retina.
(c) No agreementexists on the significanceof the inhibitorysignal.
(d) The spectralresponsivenessof cells is determinedunderconditionsthat
are far fromthe stimulusconditionsin which the visual systemusually
operates[MS225, 235].
About90 percent of the ganglioncells in the retinaand the parvocellular
layers of the LGN(PLGN)are connected to L and M cones and are also
39
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J. Van Brakel
I25
Cells
6.2 Double-opponent
Double-opponentcells have not yet been foundbelow the cortex.They are
most sensitiveto the simultaneouspresentationof two diSerentcolours,one
coveringthe centre of the cell's visual field and the other illuminatingthe
cells give a maximumresponseto
surround.For example,green oW-centre
a red spot surroundedby a green annulus. Such a cell is not influencedby
largehomogeneous(chromaticor achromatic)light spotscoveringthe entire
receptivefield. Hence, double-opponentcells are sensitive to wavelength
diSerencesonly. But it would be prematureto concludethat we have now
foundthe locus of the 'colour-coded'cells.
Firstly,there is a 'bewilderingvarietyof colour-codedcell types' (Livingstone and Hubel [1984], p. 348; cf. [LD367]) and in fact little is known
about the organizationof the receptivefield of double-opponentcells. Also
it is unresolvedhow they connect to cells in the LGN[OZ33].Experimental
evidenceis disputablebecause it is very difficultspatiallyto isolate centres
from surround(Shapley[1990], p. 647), and in general the wavelength
sensitivity varies with the particular conditions under which the
measurement is made. This may explain why there is no agreement
40
41
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43
44
45
46
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48
The Plasticity
Or
I29
ResponseCurvesand UniqueHues
7.2 Chromatic
The coefficientsof the opponent-processesare calculatedfrom absorbance
curves.Only
dataforthe threecone typescombinedwith chromatic-response
recently have direct physical methods become availableto determinethe
absorptioncurvesof the threecone types.However,with the adventof direct
measurementtechniquesit was not only confirmedthat thereare threecone
types (each governedby its own DNA-code),but also various contentious
issues arose,including:49
(a) Are there perhaps sub-populationswithin each class of cones with
somewhatdifferentspectralsensitivities?
(b) Do visual pigment propertiesperhaps vary between individuals of
the same species?
49
See [MS74], [OZ39],Neitzand Jacobs[1990] and for the genes encodingthe three cone
pigmentsNathanset al. [1986]. Becauseamino-acidsequencesof M and L cones are 96
percent identical,whereasforthe S cone they are verydifferent,it has been suggestedthat
S cone colourvisionis evolutionarymuch older.Thisshedsnew light on the controversies
aboutthe functionof the PLGNand MLGN(Mollon[1989]).
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The chromatic-response
curves are determinedin experimentsin which
subjectsarepresentedwith spectrallights.50Firstly,they fix theirfourunique
hues, being askedwhich spectrallight is pure blue, etc. This sets the zero
levels for the L-M and L + M-S channels.The subjectis then askedto
mix particularspectrallights, say a red/yellowlight, with so much of an
opponenthue, say blue, that a uniquehue is obtained,in this case red.This
is what is calleda cancellationor differencingexperiment:the blue cancels
the yellow. Similar cancellation experimentsare carried out for other
combinations.In this way the chromaticresponseis measuredfor the whole
spectrum.51
Letus pass overthe fact that only spectrallights are used and an observer
in a 'neutral equilibriumstate of adaptation', which means that she
sees the test fields after remaining in the dark for ten minutes.52The
crucialquestionis: why start with the four unique hues in the Srst place?
Theirpsychologicalrealityis vigorouslydefendedby most colour scientists.
However:
(a) Colourscientists admit they are often unsuccessfulin convincing an
artistthat greenis a primitivecolourand that thereare exceptionsto the
willingness of people to describethe spectral colours using the four
unique hues only.
(b) Thereis a considerablerange in the wavelengthsthat are identifiedas
representingunique green, blue and yellow (unique red is not in the
spectrum).Althoughsome argue that the averagesare reproducible,in
this case it may be more informativeto look at the range: blue
462-496 nm, green 488-545 nm, yellow 566-588 nm.53 Hence the
uniquepointscoverthe whole spectralrangeof these colours,exceptfor
21 nm of yellow-green.
(c) Since Hering ([1920], p. 58) there has been uncertaintzrwhether
perhapsbrown is also a unique hue (Quinnet al. [1988]).
(d) The status of (induced)blacknessis still unclear (Lee et al. [1989],
Volbrechtet al. [1990]).
Colourscientiststell me in correspondencethat there is a vast literature
on uniquehues and a lot of 'objective'supportfortheirexistence,independent of any practicesof naming colour.However,that is not how the subject
is introducedby Hardin,in textbooks(Hurvich[1981], pp. 1-11, 53, and
50 Fora descriptionof the procedureand the relationof chromaticresponsefunctionsto hue
naming,see Hurvich[1981] and Wernerand Wooten[1979].
51 The L/Mand S/L+ M cancellationcurvesare matchedat the point of 'balanced'orange.
They are furthermatched with an achromaticresponsecurve to be able to calculate
saturations.Onlya few of these cancellationexperimentshave been published[OZ63].
52 As Hurvich([1972], p. 64) notes,this is the only way to obtainmeaningful
measurements.
A biasedadaptivestate can lead to 'unanticipatedremainders'[OZ72].
53 Data fromSchefrin& Werner[1990] and furtherreferences
given there.
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CONCLUDING REMARKS
55
56
57
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J. Van Brakel
Barlow [1990] notes that eSerent neural connections bom other parts of the brain
outnumberthe afferentconnectionsfromthe opticnervein the LGN,which is of particular
interestin view of the fact that 'evidenceto be reviewedsuggeststhat the LGNdoes little
to transformthe signalsfromretinalganglioncells that projectto it' [LD365].
RE F EREN CES
ANDRICK,
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