Seeing Black and WhiteHow the human visual system determines the lightness of a surface, that is, its whiteness, blackness, or grayness, remains--like vision in general--a mystery. In fact, we have not even been able to create a machine that can determine, through an artificial vision system, whether an object is white, black, or gray. Although the photoreceptors in the eye are driven by light, the light reflected by a surface does not reveal its shade of gray. Depending upon the level of illumination, a surface of any shade of gray can reflect any amount of light. In Seeing Black and White Alan Gilchrist ties together over 30 years of his own research on lightness, and presents the first comprehensive, historical review of empirical work on lightness, covering the past 150 years of research on images ranging from the simple to the complex. He also describes and analyzes the many theories of lightness--including his own--showing what each can and cannot explain. Gilchrist highlights the forgotten-yet-exciting work done in the first third of the twentieth century, describing several crucial experiments and examining the brilliant but nearly unknown work of the Hungarian gestalt theorist, Lajos Kardos. Gilchrists review also includes a survey of the pattern of lightness errors made by humans, many of which result in delightful illusions. He argues that because these errors are not random, but systematic, they are the signature of our visual software, and so provide a powerful tool that can reveal how lightness is computed. Based on this argument and the concepts of anchoring, grouping, and frames of reference, Gilchrist presents a new theoretical framework that explains an unprecedented array of lightness errors. As both the first comprehensive overview of research on lightness and the first unified presentation of Gilchrists new theoretical framework Seeing Black and White will be an invaluable resource for vision scientists, cognitive psychologists, and cognitive neuroscientists. |
Contents
3 | |
2 The Classic Period | 13 |
3 The Katz Period | 26 |
4 The Gestalt Period | 47 |
5 The Contrast Period | 76 |
6 The Computational Period | 125 |
7 Computational Models | 189 |
8 Illumination Perception | 213 |
11 An Anchoring Model of Errors | 294 |
12 Theories of Lightness | 334 |
13 Concluding Thoughts | 360 |
Glossary | 375 |
Notes | 381 |
389 | |
Author Index | 409 |
416 | |
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Common terms and phrases
absolute luminance Adelson adjacent anchoring model annulus appear white area rule Arend background background-independent Bergstro¨m Bonato cognitive color constancy computed contrast effect contrast illusion contrast theories coplanar Cornsweet countershaded darker decrements depth disk disk/annulus distal stimulus edge coding encoding equal factors field of illumination film color ganzfeld Gelb effect Gestalt Gilchrist gradient Helmholtz Helson Hering’s highest luminance rule illuminance edges illumination level illumination-independent increments inducing field induction Jameson and Hurvich Kardos Katz Katz’s Koffka lateral inhibition lightness constancy lightness errors lightness perception lightness values lumi luminance ratio luminance values luminosity threshold Mach bands machine vision match minance Mondrian Munsell object observer paper pattern perceived illumination perceived lightness predict problem produced ratio principle reflectance region relative luminance retinal image seen sensations shadow shown in Figure simultaneous contrast spatial spotlight stancy stimulus surface color surface lightness surround test field veridicality visual field visual system Wallach