Accuracy of memory for brightness of colored lights measured with successive comparison method

Successive and simultaneous brightness comparisons between test colors and a comparison white were performed to study how accurately the brightness of colored lights was maintained in memory. The test colors were monochromatic lights chosen from 410 to 670 nm and a white light. The stimulus duration was 1 sec, and test-comparison stimulus-onset asynchronies in successive comparisons were more than 11 sec depending on the experiments. The results show that the variability of successive brightness comparisons was 1.5-2.0 times greater than that of simultaneous brightness comparison. This degree of deterioration of brightness discrimination is reasonably consistent with those of hue and saturation discrimination previously reported. Brightness shifts in the darker direction were found for most colors.