Researched by Ashley L. 
2003-04

• PURPOSE 
• HYPOTHESIS 
• EXPERIMENT DESIGN 
• MATERIALS 
• PROCEDURES 
• RESULTS 
• CONCLUSION 

• RESEARCH REPORT 
• BIBLIOGRAPHY 
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

• ABOUT THE RESEARCHER 

Although we use it in many ways, we don’t actually “see” any items. In fact, we see the light that a particular object reflects or gives off. Your eyes absorb this light and transform it into electrochemical signals that travel through your nerves into the brain. There it is interpreted and the color of that object is recognized for what it is.

Light waves are a form of electromagnetic waves; made up of electric and magnetic energy. Electromagnetic waves make up the electromagnetic spectrum, of which visible spectrum is only a small part of. The extremely short waves, before violet in the visible spectrum, make up the ultraviolet rays, x-rays, and gamma rays. At the extreme red end, there are infrared rays and radio waves.

Most or all things appear colored because of the wavelengths they reflect and absorb. For instance, a thing that reflects all light appears white while an object that absorbs all light is recognized as a black thing.

The retina is a very important part of the eye. It consists of two main parts called rods and cones. These super eight-sensitive cells are named after their shapes. Rods are long, and skinny. They are very sensitive in dim light but can’t distinguish wavelengths. Rods are what makes us only see green in a dimly lit room because of the their capability to register color. Cones are conical. They only respond when it is lighter and the rods automatically cease functioning when there is enough light for the cones to work. There are three main types of cones. One kind responds most to short wavelengths, corresponding with purple, indigo, and blue, while another reacts mainly to green and other middle wavelengths. The third type reacts most to long wavelengths correlate with reds and oranges. But, for all of them, the brain organizes the signals they communicate to be interpreted as visual images.

People who don’t have full color vision are considered colorblind. Color blindness is caused by abnormalities in the cones of the retina. Some colorblind people are completely lacking one or two types of cones or their cones are simply malfunctioning. They tend to see colors differently, though a person who has no ability whatsoever to view color is very rare. Most of these problems are hereditary and can’t be prevented or cured.

There are many color vision effects, also known as optical illusions, that aren’t recognized by us. You see, our brain automatically covers these up so we don’t realize they’re affecting us. Most of these can be easily demonstrated. Covering half a sheet of colored paper with a white sheet of paper can show an example of chromatic adaptation. After staring at the exposed colored paper for roughly 30 seconds, you can remove the white sheet of paper. When you look at the colored paper now, the half that had been covered looks much brighter than the half that had been exposed. Another visual effect is an afterimage. When you stare fixedly at a colored image for about 30 seconds, you will see an afterimage if you look at a white surface. The opposite colors of the original colored image will appear in the afterimage on, technically, the successive contrast. These are just a small example of the many kinds of color vision effects.

Storing new memories involves chemical charges in the nerve cells of the brain or in the substances that carry the messages. This process also includes structural changes in the physical structure of the brain’s nerve cells. 

Many areas of the brain are involved in the process of memory. These parts include the hippocampus, which is a part of a larger structure called the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex controls higher brain functions such as thinking, problem solving, decision-making, and the use of language. If people suffer any damage to their hippocampus they may have trouble remembering anything new.

Scientists have classified memory into three types, each with a different time span. These types are sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Sensory memory holds the information it processes for only a few seconds. For instance, if you look at an image, your mind will retain an almost flawless, temporary image.  However, unless you concentrate on the image, it will quickly fade and disappear.

Short-term memory includes what you think about at any particular given time. It can hold a fact for as long as you think about that particular fact, but when you think about something else for a while you may have trouble remembering that fact later on. A variety of conditions, including basic aging can destroy a person’s short-term memory. Short-term memory can recall a fact for only 15 to 30 seconds.

Long-term memory is the permanent memory store accessed after a considerable gap between the introduction of the stimulus and its recall. It is considered to be a permanent memory store. It stores information transferred to it from the working memory and is stored away for long periods of time. There are two types of long-term memory. These are referred to as memories of experiences and events in a serial for, a semantic memory, which is a structured record of facts, concepts, and skills that we have acquired. 
Motivated forgetting is the term for purposefully repressing memories. Sometimes, when a memory is just too painful, we push the memory into our subconscious mind and actively repressing it, we are later unable to recall it. In essence motivated forgetting is purposeful forgetting. 

The perception of color is a neural reaction to the amount of light that bounces off of an object. The amount of this light absorbed by the eye is recognized as the color of the object. This color is often subconsciously correlated with that particular object. 

Memory is the ability to recall something that you have learned or experienced. It can be classified into three types, sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.  Storing new memories into one of these classes includes chemical changes in the nerve cells in the brain or in the substances that actually carry the messages. Without memory, we wouldn’t be able to learn anything and each experience would be new and unfamiliar.

Wyzecki, Gunter.  "Color,"  The World Book Encyclopedia, 2002.

Kittredge, Mary. The Senses  Philadelphia, New York: Chelsea House Publishers,1990 p. 12-23

Zimmerman, Mark. “Sight” Dictionary Information: Definition Sight- Description Meaning  December 10, 2003 <http://www.selfknowledge.com/88281.html>