From spectral information to animal colour vision: experiments and concepts

From spectral information to animal colour vision: experiments and concepts.

Many animals use the spectral distribution of light to guide behaviour, but whether they have colour vision has been debated for over a century. Our strong subjective experience of colour and the fact that human vision is the paradigm for colour science inevitably raises the question of how we compare with other species. This article outlines four grades of 'colour vision' that can be related t...

Animal colour vision--behavioural tests and physiological concepts.

Over a century ago workers such as J. Lubbock and K. von Frisch developed behavioural criteria for establishing that non-human animals see colour. Many animals in most phyla have since then been shown to have colour vision. Colour is used for specific behaviours, such as phototaxis and object recognition, while other behaviours such as motion detection are colour blind. Having established the e...

Spatial, temporal and spectral pre-processing for colour vision.

Fourier transforms of the spectral radiance of natural objects were investigated. The average spectral power spectrum Sc(fc) is well described by Sc(fc) = exp (-beta fc), with fc the spectral frequency (cycles micron-1), and beta = 0.419 +/- 0.097 microns. Average spectral contrast (Cc = [epsilon fc not equal to 0 Sc(fc)/Sc(0)]1/2) was 0.224 +/- 0.127. Optimal filters for colour pre-processing ...

Colour-Vision and Colour-Blindness

Animal Cognition: Concepts from Apes to Bees

New research shows that honeybees can classify arrangements of two visual patterns according to their spatial configuration. Can bees learn relational concepts of 'above' and 'below'? And are the underlying psychological processes comparable in humans and other primates facing similar tasks?