Julie Franzak

ELED 305-42

5/29/2007

Science Area: Life Science

Concept: Color Perception

-must have a gray background

-must have a yellow border

-must have a green interior

-must have a small black dot in the center

-must have a small black dot in the center of it

Students will probably say that they will see a black and white image of the original figure when they look away; like when someone is taking a picture with a flash, there is a tendency for people to see that they see black spots as they look around directly after the flash.

1. Have the students stare at the colored heart without blinking (~20 seconds).

2. Have the students immediately look at the plain piece of white paper.

-Students should be focusing on the black dot in the center.

3. Ask the students to explain and record what they see.

1. What color is the heart’s interior?

A. Green

2. What color is the heart’s border?

A. Yellow

3. What did you see when you looked at the white paper?

4. What were the colors of the heart when you looked at the white paper?

Aa. Interior= Red

Ab. Border= Blue

5. Why do you think the second heart was not the same as the first heart?

6. Was there a heart drawn on the plain white sheet of paper?

7. What colors does the human brain pair together?

A. Red-Green; Yellow-Blue; Black-White

There is an unusual connection that exists in the human brain and the eyes between four primary colors; red, green, yellow and blue are the four primary colors that cause distinct reactions to occur in certain situations. Coders located further back in the eye discriminate between these colors simultaneously as the retina absorbs light. One coder known as the black-white coder can relay a combination of the two colors creating a grey image while another coder relays signals for red and green; another coder is responsible for relaying signals for yellow and blue. The four primary colors just mentioned will not combine because they oppose each other. A process that causes a bleaching effect is brought on be steady exposure (staring) to various colors has a tendency to weaken the brain’s response to that color; this bleaching effect causes a fade in color, making it look grey. When there is steady exposure to the four primary colors of red, green, yellow or blue, a temporary switch of signals to the brain causes a person to see the opposing color in the pair. For example, after the green and yellow heart is stared at for a brief length of time, the afterimage of the heart is then seen as a red heart with a blue border. This occurs because red and green share a single coding mechanism and yellow and blue do also; withdrawal from the color stimulus as the plain white paper is then the new stimulus causes a shut down of the specific colors mechanism which then triggers the other color part momentarily. This is because the cones which are responsible for color in the human eye match specific colors as pairs: red is paired with green, yellow is paired with blue, and black is paired with white.

Liem, Tik L. Invitations to Science Inquiry. Chino Hills, CA: Science Inquiry Enterprises, 1987. 437.