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Related Experiment Videos

Illumination change at a depth edge can reduce lightness constancy

J A Schirillo1, L E Arend

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of San Francisco, CA 94117-1080.

Perception & Psychophysics
|February 1, 1995
PubMed
Summary

Retinal adjacencies at occluded edges can disrupt lightness constancy. This phenomenon explains why surfaces may appear to change lightness when viewed against different backgrounds or under varying illumination.

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Area of Science:

  • Visual perception
  • Color science
  • Psychophysics

Background:

  • Lightness constancy is crucial for stable visual perception, enabling surfaces to maintain perceived lightness despite changes in illumination or background.
  • Visual scenes often involve occlusion, creating edges where surfaces with different illuminations are juxtaposed on the retina.
  • High retinal luminance ratios at these edges can challenge the visual system's ability to achieve accurate lightness perception.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how retinal adjacencies at occluded edges affect lightness constancy.
  • To determine if these adjacencies explain previously observed failures in lightness constancy.
  • To link specific visual scene properties to perceptual outcomes in lightness perception.

Main Methods:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Experimental manipulation of surface occlusion and illumination conditions.
  • Measurement of perceived lightness under controlled viewing conditions.
  • Analysis of retinal luminance ratios at surface boundaries.

    • Main Results:

    • Retinal adjacencies created by occlusion can lead to significant failures in lightness constancy.
    • Higher retinal luminance ratios at occluded edges correlated with greater deviations from perfect lightness constancy.
    • These findings provide a mechanism explaining departures from lightness constancy observed in prior depth-perception studies.

    Conclusions:

    • Occlusion-induced retinal adjacencies are a key factor in lightness constancy failures.
    • Understanding these edge effects is critical for a complete theory of lightness perception.
    • The study highlights the importance of local luminance relationships in global lightness judgments.