Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Color Vision01:24

Color Vision

Color perception begins in the retina, the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye. Two main theories explain how colors are seen: the trichromatic theory and the opponent-process theory. The trichromatic theory, proposed by Thomas Young in 1802 and extended by Hermann von Helmholtz in 1852, suggests that color vision is based on three types of cone receptors in the retina. These cones are sensitive to different but overlapping ranges of wavelengths corresponding to red, blue, and green.
Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways01:22

Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways

At the molecular level, visual signals trigger transformations in photopigment molecules, resulting in changes in the photoreceptor cell's membrane potential. The photon's energy level is denoted by its wavelength, with each specific wavelength of visible light associated with a distinct color. The spectral range of visible light, classified as electromagnetic radiation, spans from 380 to 720 nm. Electromagnetic radiation wavelengths exceeding 720 nm fall under the infrared category, whereas...
Perceptual Constancy01:12

Perceptual Constancy

Perceptual constancy is the ability to recognize that objects remain consistent and unchanged even when their appearance varies due to changes in sensory input. There are four main types of perceptual constancy: size constancy, shape constancy, color constancy, and brightness constancy.
Size constancy is the recognition that an object remains the same size, even when its image on the retina changes. For instance, a bus is perceived to be large enough to carry people, even if it looks tiny from...
Anatomy of the Eyeball01:20

Anatomy of the Eyeball

The eye is a spherical, hollow structure composed of three tissue layers. The outer layer — the fibrous tunic, comprises the sclera — a white structure — and the cornea, which is transparent. The sclera encompasses some of the ocular surface, most of which is not visible. However, the 'white of the eye' is distinctively visible in humans compared to other species. The cornea, a clear covering at the front of the eye, enables light penetration. The eye's middle layer, the vascular tunic,...
Factors Affecting Perception01:25

Factors Affecting Perception

Perception is influenced by perceptual set, context, motivation, and emotion. Perceptual set, or perceptual expectancy, refers to the tendency to perceive things in a particular way, influenced by previous experiences and expectations. This phenomenon affects the interpretation of stimuli, creating a set of mental tendencies and assumptions that impact sensory perceptions of sound, taste, touch, and sight.
An illustrative example of a perceptual set is the scenario where an airline pilot told...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

A Resource-Rational Account of Human Eye Movements During Immersive Visual Search.

Open mind : discoveries in cognitive science·2026
Same author

An image-computable spatio-chromatic receptive field model of the midget retinal ganglion cell mosaic across the retina.

Journal of computational neuroscience·2026
Same author

A deep convolutional neural network trained for lightness constancy is susceptible to lightness illusions.

Journal of vision·2026
Same author

The Cone Optoretinogram as a Function of Retinal Eccentricity.

Photonics·2026
Same author

Deep neural networks trained for estimating reflectance and illumination achieve lightness constancy differently than human observers.

Journal of vision·2026
Same author

Evaluation of an artificial intelligence model for the identification of obstructive hydrocephalus on computed tomography of the head.

European radiology·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Visualizing Visual Adaptation
04:43

Visualizing Visual Adaptation

Published on: April 24, 2017

The relation between color discrimination and color constancy: when is optimal adaptation task dependent?

Alicia B Abrams1, James M Hillis, David H Brainard

  • 1University of Pennsylvania, Department of Psychology, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. fiolalicia@yahoo.se

Neural Computation
|August 25, 2007
PubMed
Summary

Adaptation mechanisms in color vision can simultaneously enhance object discrimination and constancy. However, this dual function is more effective with illumination changes than with shifts in surface reflectance statistics.

More Related Videos

A Gaze-Contingent Display Framework for Perceptual Learning Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss
07:12

A Gaze-Contingent Display Framework for Perceptual Learning Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss

Published on: April 11, 2025

Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues
07:34

Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues

Published on: June 3, 2013

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Visualizing Visual Adaptation
04:43

Visualizing Visual Adaptation

Published on: April 24, 2017

A Gaze-Contingent Display Framework for Perceptual Learning Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss
07:12

A Gaze-Contingent Display Framework for Perceptual Learning Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss

Published on: April 11, 2025

Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues
07:34

Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues

Published on: June 3, 2013

Area of Science:

  • Visual neuroscience
  • Color vision research
  • Perceptual adaptation

Background:

  • Color vision serves two key functions: discriminating objects and maintaining constancy across scenes.
  • Adaptation optimizes visual responses, potentially improving both discrimination and constancy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if common adaptation mechanisms can simultaneously achieve both discrimination and constancy.
  • To explore the impact of different scene changes on these dual adaptation functions.

Main Methods:

  • Development of a theoretical framework for analyzing adaptation.
  • Computational modeling and example calculations to test the framework.

Main Results:

  • Adaptation effectively supports both discrimination and constancy when scene changes involve illumination shifts.
  • The simultaneous achievement of both functions is less successful when scene changes involve altered surface reflectance ensembles.

Conclusions:

  • Common adaptation mechanisms can largely achieve simultaneous discrimination and constancy, particularly under changing illumination.
  • The effectiveness of adaptation for dual functions is constrained by the nature of environmental changes, especially shifts in surface properties.