Chromatic Adaptation from Achromatic Stimuli with Implied Color

Previous research has shown that the typical or memory color of an object is perceived in images of that object, even when the image is achromatic. We performed an experiment to investigate whether the implied color in greyscale images could influence the perceived color of subsequent, simple stimuli. We used a standard top-up adaptation technique along with a roving-pedestal, two-alternative spatial forced-choice method for measuring perceptual bias without contamination from any response or decision biases. Adaptors were achromatic images of natural objects that are normally seen with diagnostic color. We found that, in some circumstances, greyscale adapting images had a biasing effect, shifting the achromatic point toward the implied color, in comparison with phase-scrambled images. We interpret this effect as evidence of adaptation in chromatic signaling mechanisms that receive top-down input from knowledge of object color. This implied color adaptation effect was particularly strong from images of bananas, which are popular stimuli in memory color experiments. We also consider the effect in a color constancy context, in which the implied color is used by the visual system to estimate an illuminant, but find our results inconsistent with this explanation.