title: Primacy of dimensions in color perception.
abstract: In this study, we used a procedure called selective/divided rotation to investigate the role of dimensions in the perception of color. Ss performed either selective-attention or divided-attention tasks to paired dimensions created from each of 3 orientations of axes in color space: 0 degree, 22.5 degrees, and 45 degrees. We evaluated a Euclidean hypothesis, namely, that speeded classification of interacting dimensions is invariant to rigid rotation of stimulus axes. All experiments obtained evidence against this Euclidean hypothesis. Experiments 1 to 4 showed that selective attention was best at the orientation corresponding to saturation and brightness, suggesting primacy of these dimensions. The results were replicated with the pairs hue-saturation (Experiment 7) and hue-brightness (Experiment 8). We conclude that interacting dimensions can be primary and that dimensional primacy characterizes much of perceptual experience.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-1364.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Melara
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Marks
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Potts
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D003118:Color Perception; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity; D004215:Distance Perception; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011601:Psychophysics; D011930:Reaction Time