Turkish speakers differentiate the blue region of color spectrum into mavi (blue) and lacivert (dark blue) / whereas non-Turkish speakers in this study had only one color term in the blue region. The present study aimed to explore the predictions of the Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis. Operationally, Categorical Perception (CP) effects were used. In Experiment 1, Turkish speakers performed a naming task to determine an average category boundary between mavi and lacivert. In Experiment 2, both Turkish and non-Turkish speakers&rsquo / color-difference detection thresholds were estimated on the average boundary as well as within the mavi and lacivert categories. The thresholds were also estimated in the green region, in which both groups had only one color term. 2-TAFC method, which eliminates the effects of memory or labeling and isolates the perceptual processes, was used to estimate the thresholds. Turkish speakers, and not non-Turkish speakers, were predicted to show CP effects only in the blue region: thresholds should be lower on the boundary than within-category. The result revealed that Turkish speakers&rsquo / color-difference detection thresholds were lower than those of non-Turkish speakers both in the blue and the green regions. The difference in the green region does not rule out the LRH. It is possible that this difference resulted from the limitations of the study. Finally, in Experiment 3, Turkish speakers&rsquo / thresholds were also estimated on their individual boundaries. The patterns of the thresholds revealed by Experiment 3 were similar to the pattern of the thresholds in Experiment 2.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Linköping : Linköpings universitet, 2006. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Nas últimas décadas uma série de experimentos realizados em vertebrados tem demonstrado a capacidade que alguns destes possuem de discriminar a luz ultravioleta, ao contrário do acreditado anteriormente. O peixe dourado (Carassius auratus), um bom modelo experimental para pesquisas sobre visão, apresentou em experimentos comportamentais altos níveis de discriminação de cor nas regiões espectrais do azul e do violeta, o que só seria possível com a existência de um receptor adicional para o ultravioleta (Neumeyer, 1985; Hawryshyn & Beauchamp, 1985; Neumeyer & Arnold, 1989; Neumeyer, 1992; Fratzer, Dörr & Neumeyer, 1994). Estes resultados foram confirmados pela determinação microespectrofotométrica (Bowmaker, Thorpe & Douglas, 1991) e eletrofisiológica (Palacios et al., 1998) da existência de cones com pigmentos específicos para luz ultravioleta, sem haver entretanto um estudo da codificação dessa entrada em neurônios de segunda ordem até o momento. Além disso, permanece ainda em discussão na literatura o papel das células horizontais retinianas no processamento cromático. O presente projeto teve por objetivo investigar qual a contribuição da entrada do receptor UV para os perfis de resposta eletrofisiológica das células horizontais e quais tipos celulares da retina externa do Carassius auratus são subjacentes à discriminação observada comportamentalmente. Para tanto, registros intracelulares de células horizontais e bipolares foram obtidos sob estimulaçãomonocromática de diferentes intensidades, ) diâmetros e comprimentos de onda, com o intuito de determinar suas respostas espectrais, bem como o campo receptivo e as possíveis interações entre estas e os cones. As células horizontais mono-, bi- e trifásica apenas hiperpolarizam na região do UV, não havendo oponência cromática entre as regiões do UV e do azul em nenhum destes tipos celulares; tampouco encontramos uma célula horizontal tetrafásica. Através de adaptações cromáticas, observamos serem as respostas eletrofisiológicas à luz das células horizontais mono- e bifásicas resultado de interações entre os sistemas de cones vermelho,verde e azul, não tendo sido identificada nenhuma entrada UV significativa nessas células. Por fim, encontramos uma célula bipolar oponente entre as regiões espectrais do UV e do azul, o que constitui uma base neural compatível com a discriminação comportamentalmente observada. Uma vez que canais oponentes são necessários para a discriminação de cor, e essa oponência não foi encontrada nas células horizontais, mais sim nas bipolares, acreditamos ser esse um indício de que as células horizontais não participam diretamente da codificação da informação UV na retina do Carassius auratus. Essa idéia está de acordo com dados recentes da literatura, que atribuem às células horizontais papel relacionado aos mecanismos de constância e contraste simultâneo de cor, deixando para as células bipolares a função de codificar cores para os neurôniossubseqüentes (Kamermans, Kraaij & Spekreijse, 1998) / In the last decades a number of experiments in vertebrates has demonstrated the ability of some of these animals to discriminate ultraviolet light. Among them, the goldfish (Carassius auratus), considered a good model in vision research, presented in behavioural experiments high discrimination rates in the violet and blue spectral regions, which could only be accomplished through an additional UV receptor (Neumeyer, 1985; Hawryshyn & Beauchamp, 1985; Neumeyer & Arnold, 1989; Neumeyer, 1992; Fratzer, Dörr & Neumeyer, 1994). These results were confirmed by microspectrophotometrical (Bowmaker, Thorpe & Douglas, 1991) and electrophysiological (Palacios et al., 1998) determinations of the existence of cones with specific photopigments with a maximum in the UV region of the light spectrum. However, to date there are no data concerning the spectral coding of this input in second order neurons. Furthermore, the role of the retinal horizontal cells in chromatic processing remains under debate. The present study aimed at investigating the contribution of the UV input to the electrophysiological response profiles of the cone-driven horizontal cells, as well as determining which neurons in the outer retina of the goldfish could subserve vision in the UV range, as observed behaviourally. For that purpose, intracellular recordings of horizontal and bipolar cells under monochromatic stimuli of different intensities, diameters and wavelengths were obtained in order to determinetheir action spectra, receptive field sizes and characteristics as well as the possible interactions between them and the different cone systems. Mono-, bi- and triphasic horizontal cells always hyperpolarised in the UV spectral range: there was no chromatic opponency between the UV and the blue zones in any of these cell types. We have also failed to find a tetraphasic horizontal cell. We observed through chromatic adaptation experiments that the electrophysiological responses recorded from mono- and biphasic horizontal cells are the result of interactions between the red, green and blue cone systems. No relevant UV input to these cells could be found. Finally, we found a bipolar cell type with spectral opponency between the UV and blue regions, which could be the neural basis of the discrimination observed behaviourally. Colour-opponent channels are thought to be necessary for colour discrimination, and the absence of a horizontal cell type with opponency between the UV and blue spectral regions provides further evidence that this cell type might not play a major role in the chromatic processing in the goldfish retina. Since this opponency pattern was found in a bipolar cell, we think that this cell type, and not the horizontal cells, might underlie the coding of the UV information in this animal. This idea is in good agreement with some recent literature data that ascribe the horizontal cells a role in colour constancy and simultaneous colour contrast phenomena,leaving the function of colour codification to the bipolar cells (Kamermans, Kraaij & Spekreijse, 1998)

No description available.

Fifty-two college-aged observers participated in an experiment assessing color memory via a PowerPoint '97 computer display program which varied one of the three dimensions of hue, saturation and lightness at a time. Consistent with previous research, errors were greater for the lightness conditions followed by saturation, and least for hue conditions Additionally, a signal detection analysis indicated that d-prime was greatest for the hue conditions, less for saturation and lowest for lightness conditions. There were also significant but unpredicted differences in response criterion which may reflect task difficulty. Scores on the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (Marks, 1973) were, in general, not correlated with performance on these color memory tasks, inconsistent with previous research. The role of complexity of neuronal circuitry, the significance for opponent-process, trichromatic and retinex color vision theories and the relationship to Sokolov's model of color memory were discussed. Also, it was concluded that investigators of color memory using a computer display are well-advised to calibrate the monitor with a colorimeter because the internal computer units may be unreliable indexes of changes in hue, saturation and lightness. / Ph. D.

No / The luminance and colour gradients across an image are the result of complex interactions between object shape, material and illumination. Using such variations to infer object shape or surface colour is therefore a difficult problem for the visual system. We know that changes to the shape of an object can affect its perceived colour, and that shading gradients confer a sense of shape. Here we investigate if the visual system is able to effectively utilise these gradients as a cue to shape perception, even when additional cues are not available. We tested shape perception of a folded card object that contained illumination gradients in the form of shading and more subtle effects such as inter-reflections. Our results suggest that observers are able to use the gradients to make consistent shape judgements. In order to do this, observers must be given the opportunity to learn suitable assumptions about the lighting and scene. Using a variety of different training conditions, we demonstrate that learning can occur quickly and requires only coarse information. We also establish that learning does not deliver a trivial mapping between gradient and shape; rather learning leads to the acquisition of assumptions about lighting and scene parameters that subsequently allow for gradients to be used as a shape cue. The perceived shape is shown to be consistent for convex and concave versions of the object that exhibit very different shading, and also similar to that delivered by outline, a largely unrelated cue to shape. Overall our results indicate that, although gradients are less reliable than some other cues, the relationship between gradients and shape can be quickly assessed and the gradients therefore used effectively as a visual shape cue.

No / Precortical vision is mediated by three opponent mechanisms that combine receptoral outputs to form a luminance channel (L + M) and two chromatic channels, red-green (L/M) and blue-yellow (S/L + M). Here we ask the extent to which these basic color opponent mechanisms interact in the phenomenon of crowding, where nearby targets interfere with the processing of a central test target. The task was to identify the orientation of a Gabor patch while an annular plaid surrounded the patch. The radius of the annulus was varied in order to produce different separations of the test and flanker. The chromatic content of the Gabor and the annulus could be varied independently along the (L + M), (L/M), and (S/L + M) cardinal axes. For all targets, when the target and flanker shared the same chromaticity, performance decreased with decreasing separation of the target and annulus, i.e., a typical crowding effect was seen. When the test and flanker isolated different chromatic mechanisms, very little crowding was observed, even at the minimum separation of test target and annulus. In addition to this, intermediate chromaticities were found to produce intermediate levels of crowding. Finally, crowding effects using "half-wave rectified" stimuli suggest a locus for crowding effects beyond the level of color opponent mechanisms.

Objetivo: Avaliar repercussões da exposição ocupacional a uma mistura de solventes orgânicos sobre o desempenho visual de um grupo de frentistas. Método: Foram aplicados testes de ordenamento e discriminação de matizes, campo visual e sensibilidade ao contraste espacial de luminância em 25 frentistas (20 homens, M=36,4 anos, DP=8,9) e 25 controles sem histórico de exposição crônica a solventes (10 homens, M=33,8 anos, DP=8,8). As concentrações metabólitos urinários de tolueno (M=0,3 g/g de creatinina; DP=0,16) e xileno (M=0,1 g/g de creatinina; DP=0,02) e o tempo de trabalho (M=9,6 anos; DP=6,2) foram utilizados como indicativos da exposição dos frentistas. Os participantes foram submetidos a exame oftalmológico, e quando necessário, corrigir a acuidade visual para 20/20. Todas as medidas foram realizadas monocularmente com um olho escolhido ao acaso, com exceção do Potencial Visual Evocado Multifocal (PVEmf) e da campimetria. Para avaliar a visão de cores, utilizamos o Lanthony D15-d e Cambridge Colour Test 2.0. Na campimetria estática automatizada foi utilizado o protocolo branco-branco 24-2 do aparelho Humphrey Field Analyzer II-750i. A atividade elétrica visual cortical foi avaliada com o sistema de PVEmf Veris Science 5.2.4, utilizando um estímulo de 60 setores. A sensibilidade ao contraste espacial de luminância foi avaliada no teste Metropsis, para grades senoidais em 7 frequências espaciais de 0,2 a 20,0 cpg. Resultados: Os escores do grupo de frentistas e do grupo controle foram comparados pelo teste Mann-Whitney U. No teste de discriminação de cores (CCT), houve diferença estatística significativa entre controles e frentistas para a área total da elipse (p<0,01), elipticidade (p<0,05) e limiares nos eixos protan, deutan e tritan (p<0,05). No D15d houve diferença significativa entre os 8 dois grupos (p<0,01). Os dados da campimetria apresentaram diferenças significativas entre os dois grupos para as excentricidades de 90, 150 e 210, além dos valores de MD e PSD (p<0,05). Dos três frentistas avaliados com o PVEmf, todos apresentaram uma diminuição significativa (p<0,05) da amplitude do sinal (em relação a dados normativos) em um mínimo de 30 setores do campo visual, resultado que não foi observado no grupo controle. Nos testes de visão de cores, foi encontrada uma correlação (Spearman) positiva e significativa entre o tempo de trabalho e os índices do Lanthony D15d (p=0,52; p<0,05) e os limiares no eixo deutan (p=0,59; p<0,05). Na campimetria, houve correlações negativas significativas com o tempo de trabalho para a área da Fóvea (p=-051; p<0,05), e para os anéis de 30 (p=-0,46; p<0,05), 90 (p=-0,46; p<0,05) e 150 (p=-0,46; p<0,05). Não foi encontrada correlação significativa entre a sensibilidade ao contraste e o tempo de trabalho. Conclusões: Os resultados mostram alterações amplas e difusas no processamento visual em decorrência da exposição crônica a solventes orgânicos / Purpose: To evaluate the outcome of chronic occupational exposure to a mixture of solvents on the visual system of a group of gas station workers. Methods: 25 gas station workers (20 male; M=36,4 years old, SD=8,9) and 25 controls (10 male; M=33,8 years old, DP=8,8) with no history of chronic exposure to solvents were tested for hue discrimination and arrangement, spatial contrast sensitivity, visual field and multifocal VEPs. Urinary concentrations of toluene (M=0,3g/g of creatinine; Sd=0,16) and xylene metabolites (M=0,1 g/g creatinine; SD=0), along with the time of work (M=9,6 years; SD=6,2) were used as indicators of the exposure. The participants were submitted to an ophthalmologic examination and corrected the visual acuity to 20/20 whenever needed. All measurements were monocular (eye randomly chosen) and only one eye was tested, except for Multifocal Visual Evoked Potential (mfVEP) and the automated perimetry. Color was evaluated with the Lanthony D15d and Cambridge Colour Test 2.0. Automatic static perimetry used the white-on-white 24-2 protocol of the Humphrey Field Analyzer II-750i. Visual field was also evaluated with the mfVEP system Veris Science 5.2.4. Contrast sensitivity was measured with Metropsis software, using sine wave gratings of 0,2; 0,5; 1,0; 2,0; 5,0; 10,0 and 20,0 cpd. Results: The results for the two groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. In the color discrimination test, the groups were significantly different for the thresholds in the three confusion axis tested (p<0,05), area of the ellipse (p<0,01) and ellipticity (p<0,05). In the color arrangement test, the two groups were significantly different (p<0,01). The automated perimetry results were also significantly different between groups for the 90, 150 e 210 eccentricity rings (p<0,05) and the MD and PSD values (p<0,05). Only three of the workers were tested with the mfVEP so far. All three had at least 30 sectors in the visual field 10 with significant loss of amplitude in the response (p<0,05, when compared to normative data). This result was not observed in the control group. The Spearman correlation coefficient was used to look for significant correlations between time of work and visual performance. For color vision, we found significant positive correlation between time of work and indexes of the Lanthony D15d (p=0,52; p<0,05) and deutan axis thresholds (p=0,59; p<0,05) for the CCT test. The analysis of sensitivity in eccentricity rings of perimetry data showed significant negative correlation with the time of work for the Fovea (p=-051; p<0,05) and rings of 30 (p=-0,46; p<0,05), 90 (p=-0,46; p<0,05) e 150 (p=-0,46; p<0,05). The contrast sensitivity data was not significantly correlated with time of work. Conclusions: The results presented here suggest that chronic occupational exposure to organic solvents leads to changes in the visual system function even when the exposure is within occupational safety limits. The results also suggest that the visual changes are extensive and diffuse

Objetivo: Avaliar repercussões da exposição ocupacional a uma mistura de solventes orgânicos sobre o desempenho visual de um grupo de frentistas. Método: Foram aplicados testes de ordenamento e discriminação de matizes, campo visual e sensibilidade ao contraste espacial de luminância em 25 frentistas (20 homens, M=36,4 anos, DP=8,9) e 25 controles sem histórico de exposição crônica a solventes (10 homens, M=33,8 anos, DP=8,8). As concentrações metabólitos urinários de tolueno (M=0,3 g/g de creatinina; DP=0,16) e xileno (M=0,1 g/g de creatinina; DP=0,02) e o tempo de trabalho (M=9,6 anos; DP=6,2) foram utilizados como indicativos da exposição dos frentistas. Os participantes foram submetidos a exame oftalmológico, e quando necessário, corrigir a acuidade visual para 20/20. Todas as medidas foram realizadas monocularmente com um olho escolhido ao acaso, com exceção do Potencial Visual Evocado Multifocal (PVEmf) e da campimetria. Para avaliar a visão de cores, utilizamos o Lanthony D15-d e Cambridge Colour Test 2.0. Na campimetria estática automatizada foi utilizado o protocolo branco-branco 24-2 do aparelho Humphrey Field Analyzer II-750i. A atividade elétrica visual cortical foi avaliada com o sistema de PVEmf Veris Science 5.2.4, utilizando um estímulo de 60 setores. A sensibilidade ao contraste espacial de luminância foi avaliada no teste Metropsis, para grades senoidais em 7 frequências espaciais de 0,2 a 20,0 cpg. Resultados: Os escores do grupo de frentistas e do grupo controle foram comparados pelo teste Mann-Whitney U. No teste de discriminação de cores (CCT), houve diferença estatística significativa entre controles e frentistas para a área total da elipse (p<0,01), elipticidade (p<0,05) e limiares nos eixos protan, deutan e tritan (p<0,05). No D15d houve diferença significativa entre os 8 dois grupos (p<0,01). Os dados da campimetria apresentaram diferenças significativas entre os dois grupos para as excentricidades de 90, 150 e 210, além dos valores de MD e PSD (p<0,05). Dos três frentistas avaliados com o PVEmf, todos apresentaram uma diminuição significativa (p<0,05) da amplitude do sinal (em relação a dados normativos) em um mínimo de 30 setores do campo visual, resultado que não foi observado no grupo controle. Nos testes de visão de cores, foi encontrada uma correlação (Spearman) positiva e significativa entre o tempo de trabalho e os índices do Lanthony D15d (p=0,52; p<0,05) e os limiares no eixo deutan (p=0,59; p<0,05). Na campimetria, houve correlações negativas significativas com o tempo de trabalho para a área da Fóvea (p=-051; p<0,05), e para os anéis de 30 (p=-0,46; p<0,05), 90 (p=-0,46; p<0,05) e 150 (p=-0,46; p<0,05). Não foi encontrada correlação significativa entre a sensibilidade ao contraste e o tempo de trabalho. Conclusões: Os resultados mostram alterações amplas e difusas no processamento visual em decorrência da exposição crônica a solventes orgânicos / Purpose: To evaluate the outcome of chronic occupational exposure to a mixture of solvents on the visual system of a group of gas station workers. Methods: 25 gas station workers (20 male; M=36,4 years old, SD=8,9) and 25 controls (10 male; M=33,8 years old, DP=8,8) with no history of chronic exposure to solvents were tested for hue discrimination and arrangement, spatial contrast sensitivity, visual field and multifocal VEPs. Urinary concentrations of toluene (M=0,3g/g of creatinine; Sd=0,16) and xylene metabolites (M=0,1 g/g creatinine; SD=0), along with the time of work (M=9,6 years; SD=6,2) were used as indicators of the exposure. The participants were submitted to an ophthalmologic examination and corrected the visual acuity to 20/20 whenever needed. All measurements were monocular (eye randomly chosen) and only one eye was tested, except for Multifocal Visual Evoked Potential (mfVEP) and the automated perimetry. Color was evaluated with the Lanthony D15d and Cambridge Colour Test 2.0. Automatic static perimetry used the white-on-white 24-2 protocol of the Humphrey Field Analyzer II-750i. Visual field was also evaluated with the mfVEP system Veris Science 5.2.4. Contrast sensitivity was measured with Metropsis software, using sine wave gratings of 0,2; 0,5; 1,0; 2,0; 5,0; 10,0 and 20,0 cpd. Results: The results for the two groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. In the color discrimination test, the groups were significantly different for the thresholds in the three confusion axis tested (p<0,05), area of the ellipse (p<0,01) and ellipticity (p<0,05). In the color arrangement test, the two groups were significantly different (p<0,01). The automated perimetry results were also significantly different between groups for the 90, 150 e 210 eccentricity rings (p<0,05) and the MD and PSD values (p<0,05). Only three of the workers were tested with the mfVEP so far. All three had at least 30 sectors in the visual field 10 with significant loss of amplitude in the response (p<0,05, when compared to normative data). This result was not observed in the control group. The Spearman correlation coefficient was used to look for significant correlations between time of work and visual performance. For color vision, we found significant positive correlation between time of work and indexes of the Lanthony D15d (p=0,52; p<0,05) and deutan axis thresholds (p=0,59; p<0,05) for the CCT test. The analysis of sensitivity in eccentricity rings of perimetry data showed significant negative correlation with the time of work for the Fovea (p=-051; p<0,05) and rings of 30 (p=-0,46; p<0,05), 90 (p=-0,46; p<0,05) e 150 (p=-0,46; p<0,05). The contrast sensitivity data was not significantly correlated with time of work. Conclusions: The results presented here suggest that chronic occupational exposure to organic solvents leads to changes in the visual system function even when the exposure is within occupational safety limits. The results also suggest that the visual changes are extensive and diffuse

This research investigated the influence of the normal aging process on truly photopic achromatic and chromatic retinal increment threshold over an extensive range of colored targets. It was found that for both achromatic and chromatic retinal thresholds there is a significant correlation between advancing age and the stimulus luminance intensity at threshold across the visible spectrum. This correlation is greater for the short wavelength range than for both the middle and the long wavelength ranges (r² (achromatic)= 0.43; r²(chromatic) = 0.49. In addition, a small exploratory study was completed which examined the role of prereceptoral changes in these age-related differences in color vision function. Results from this preliminary study (Experiment II) support the supposition that prereceptoral factors cannot account for all of the age-related losses that are seen in visual function, particularly in the middle and long wavelength ranges of the visible spectrum. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate