A functional theory of the McCollough effect.

Abstract

Pattern-contingent color aftereffects, or McCollough effects (MEs), are used to probe the visual brain's operations psychophysically. Their neural substrate is unknown, however, and theories about them are weak. Our theory proposes a strong functional role for MEs and a neuropsychological basis that accounts for "top-down" (global) constraints ignored by other theories. The functional aspect of the theory is based on the concept of contingent adaptation level, following Helson (1964), and on the "error-correcting device" of Andrews (1964), which tracks and adjusts internal representation to external-world contingencies. The neuropsychological part of the theory postulates that global properties are the result of MEs being generated not at the individual detector level but in vectorfields of which the detectors are elements. It is an implementation of Lie transformation group theory (Hoffman, 1966). Evidence for this model is assessed.

Visuomotor adaptation without vision?

“…Other formulations of contingent aftereffects include the notion of error correction with respect to an internal standard (e.g. Dodwell & Humphrey 1990) or the elimination of crosstalk between sensory channels (Anstis 1975). Barlow's (1990) formulation differs from these in supposing that recalibrations are the adjustment of the normal ("expected") correlation, rather than a correction for unwanted correlations (cf.…”

Contingent color aftereffects: Reassessing old conclusions

“…The results are also relevant to current alternative accounts ofCCAEs-the error-correction account of Dodwell and Humphrey (1990Humphrey ( , 1993Dodwell, 1992) and the perceptual learning account recently proposed by Bedford (1995).…”

“…A number of investigators have proposed accounts that view CCAEs as the result of recalibratory or errorcorrecting processes (e.g., Barlow, 1990;Barlow & Foldiak, 1989;Dodwell, 1992;Dodwell & Humphrey, 1990Wolfe & O'Connell, 1986). The various errorcorrection interpretations differ with respect to the conceptualization and function of the recalibratory process.…”

“…The error-correction account is equivocal on the outcome of form induction. Dodwell and Humphrey (1990) stated that there must be constraints on recalibration: "Contingent aftereffects do not appear every time we stare at a face or a building, or anything else that has a particular shape and color" (p. 82). They suggested that the stimuli that can contingently elicit color aftereffects belong to "a small class of rather special patterns" (p. 79).…”

“…Several investigators (e.g., Dodwell & Humphrey, 1990;Foreit & Ambler, 1978;Skowbo, 1984) have suggested that, on the basis of an associative interpretation of CCAEs, it would be expected that a wide variety of stimuli, following pairing with color, should elicit CCAEs. Contrary to this prediction, Foreit and Ambler reported that alternate presentations of colored geometric forms, constructed from different arrangements of the same colored line segments, did not establish form CCAEs.…”