Two Psychological Laws of

Additive Color Mixing

Additive color mixing: colored lights (not pigments) are mixed
- results could not be predicted from physics of light
- these laws are therefore psychological, not physical.
Three primaries law:
three different wavelengths of light, when mixed in the
appropriate proportions, can produce any color the eye can see.
Law of complementarity:
pairs of wavelengths can be found that, when additively mixed,
produce the visual sensation of white (complementary colors)
A standard chromaticity diagram summarizes the two laws. It is a diagram based on
psychology, not physics; two wavelengths DO NOT physically mix to become a third –
psychologically, they do (three primaries law)

Saturated colors:
colors farthest from white on a standard chromaticity diagram
Unsaturated colors:
colors closest to or nearing white
 Are squares A and B the same color, or different colors?

The two appear to be different colors because of the brain’s attempt to approximate
the effect of light and shadow on a 3D scene. This shows that psychological
perception light after processing can be very different from physical light.
 Stare at the middle of this image for 30 seconds, then look at a blank space.

Colors become their complements. This can be explained through the

complementarity of afterimages.
 Website:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1039/816622980_3b3ba2a87d_o.gif

Stare at the cross in the middle. A green afterimage appears in the space
that is not occupied by a purple dot.

This can be attributed to the cones associated with purple getting “tired”
(adaptation of cones). Once the purple stimulus is removed, the eye may
mistake the ratios of purple/gray to be exaggerated as if gray were green.

That is, the eye gets used to the presence of purple. The “shock” of the
purple being removed is the same as if a green dot had been presented to
a fresh cone.