Abstract

We present evidence that the visual system adapts to prolonged correlated stimulation of the chromatic cardinal mechanisms of Krauskopf et al. (1982) by changing the amount of interaction. Interaction between mechanisms was estimated from threshold differences parallel to one chromatic axis, measured at various levels of the orthogonal chromatic axis. Compared to the amount of interaction measured under neutral adaptation, there was no change following habituation along a cardinal axis, but there were changes following habituation along lines intermediate to the cardinal axes. This change in interaction is similar to Barlow's (1990) adaptive decorrelation processes and provides a more efficient representation of chromatic signals. We also present a model that uses this change in interaction to explain habituation results, including those of Krauskopf et al. (1986), without invoking higher-order color mechanisms.

© 1992 Optical Society of America