Influence of achromatic surrounds on categorical perception of surface colors.

Color samples selected from the OSA Uniform Color Scales set were seen isolated in a dark field, illuminated by hidden projectors. These appeared as self-luminous aperture colors when thus isolated. We employed a categorical color-naming procedure to assess color appearance. Achromatic surrounds of 33 min width, if adjacent to samples subtending about 2.2 deg, were sufficient to render normal categorical surface-color perception. As the size of surrounds decreased, color naming shifted from that normally observed in the surface-color mode to that appropriate to the aperture-color mode. For isolated samples, brown was almost never seen, being most often replaced by orange; a white border less than one-sixtieth the width of the color samples was sufficient to restore its perception in an otherwise dark field. The reflectance of the surround and the gap between test and surround stimuli were also examined and found to be important factors in surface color perception, whereas the overall luminance level was not.