PSYCH 1XX3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8.5.1: Complementary Colors, Afterimage, Real Image
3 Mar 2017
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Afterimages are the complimentary colours of real image. We have receptors that provide red-green information and others that provide blue-yellow or black-white information. That same colour receptor has two different channels, and the colour you perceive depends on: When you stare at a green square, all your green-red colour receptors are excited, firing at a rate that is much faster than baseline. When you then stare at a neutral surface, all those cells that have been firing so fast for so long go into the opposite state and actually fire less than baseline. This is possibly because the pigments are partly bleached out by the prolonged exposure to the stimulus. Firing below baseline levels in these receptors is perceived as red, so you"ll see the afterimage of a red square after staring at a green square. Red/green cells would show the opposite response to the green/red cell; the same is true for blue/yellow and yellow/blue cells.
