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Environmental Influences on Color Vision

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Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology

Synonyms

Color adaptation; Color and culture; Color constancy; Color signals; Efficient coding; Evolution; Individual differences

Definition

It is evident that color vision evolved to inform organisms about their environment and thus must be shaped by the environment the organism is in. The color properties of the world are a potent factor affecting not only the basic mechanisms of color vision within a species but also how they are calibrated and fine-tuned within the individual. As a result, many aspects of the physiology of color coding and the phenomenology of color experience can be predicted by looking outside the observer – to analyze the signals available in the color environment. The following provides a number of specific examples of how knowledge of the color characteristics of the environment has helped to account for some of the known properties of our color vision.

Environmental Signals and the Evolution of Color Vision

A central principle in understanding the design of...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA

    Kassandra R. Lee & Michael A. Webster

Authors
  1. Kassandra R. Lee
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  2. Michael A. Webster
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael A. Webster .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Color Science & Imaging Lab, North Carolina State Univ, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Renzo Shamey

Section Editor information

  1. Graduate School of Engineering, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan

    Yoko Mizokami

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Lee, K.R., Webster, M.A. (2020). Environmental Influences on Color Vision. In: Shamey, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_76-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_76-4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-27851-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27851-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Environmental Influences on Color Vision
    Published:
    03 July 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_76-4

  2. Original

    Environmental Influences on Color Vision
    Published:
    09 April 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_76-3

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