TEST OF A CONVERGENCE MODEL FOR COLOR TRANSPARENCY PERCEPTION

Models of color transparency suggest that a region in which colors of surfaces converge in color space will appear transparent. The converge nce is described by a transparency parameter a and a target of converg ence. To test such models psychophysically, observers were presented a display with four colored areas. The colors of three of the areas wer e chosen in advance by the experimenter. The task of the observer was to choose the color of the fourth area to make a central region appear transparent. Settings for the fourth color were collected for a total of twenty-four color combinations chosen from three planes in color s pace. Observers' settings agreed well with the model, which predicts t hat choices for the fourth color lie along a line segment in color spa ce that is parameterized by a. The results suggest further that color discriminability and color opponency also influence transparency judgm ent.