Poster 9

The Role of Attention in Surface Color Perception

Savannah Sutton

According to the anchoring theory of surface color perception, the brightest area in the visual field will appear white regardless of its physical properties, and colors of surrounding objects will be scaled down accordingly. Recent studies have discovered the role of attention in brightness contrast perception and grayness perception, but have ignored the role of attention in surface color perception. This current study shows that the subject will perceive the second brightest object as white, despite the presence of an object of higher luminance passing through their visual fixation point. Related studies using an inattentional blindness paradigm in the context of the anchoring theory will also be presented and discussed.

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