Cite as:
Ling Y, Hurlbert A C, 2002, "Colour memory under changing illumination" Perception 31 ECVP Abstract Supplement

Colour memory under changing illumination

Y Ling, A C Hurlbert

In the natural world, colour constancy typically requires that object colours be compared to remembered colours, across temporal changes in illumination and context. To assess the effects of colour memory on colour constancy, we performed the following experiment. Colour samples were printed on matte white paper with a calibrated colour inkjet printer and displayed in a light-tight viewing box under calibrated illumination, whose spectrum was systematically varied with coloured filters. On each trial, the observer: (i) adapted to a white card under neutral illumination (60 s); (ii) viewed and memorised the reference sample under neutral illumination (60 s); (iii) adapted to a white card under the test illumination (the memory interval of variable duration); (iv) selected a match from the test samples viewed under the test illumination. The test samples were arranged in 4 × 4 grids on black backgrounds, and varied in hue or saturation only, in perceptually equal steps. We found that colour memory deteriorates under changing illumination, but hue memory deteriorates more than saturation memory. This result is not explained by a tendency to match sample luminance and chromaticity across illuminations rather than reflectance; therefore, saturation constancy is greater than hue constancy when colour memory is required.

[YL is supported by a Unilever Studentship.]

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