Humans can see several thousand shades of color but have cone photoreceptors that aresensitive to only three (perhaps four) wavelengths of light. What is the best explanation for why we see so many colors?
A) Color perception is achieved by activation of various combinations between the three cone types.
B) Color perception is dependent on the millions of rods as well as cone photoreceptors.
C) Colors are added and enhanced in the primary visual cortex of the brain.
D) Shades of color are purely psychological and learned by association with age, infants only seeing in black and white.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Color perception is achieved by activation of various combinations between the three cone types. This is called trichromatic color vision and it allows us to perceive a wide range of colors by combining the signals from our red, green, and blue cones in different proportions. Additionally, our brains also take into account other visual cues such as brightness and contrast to enhance our perception of color.

Humans Can See Several Thousand Shades of Color but Have