harnad@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Stevan Harnad) (02/05/91)
Below is the abstract of a forthcoming target article to appear in
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____________________________________________________________________
WAYS OF COLORING
Comparative color vision as a case study for cognitive science
Evan Thompson
Center for Cognitive Studies, Tufts University, Medford, MA. 02155
E-mail: ethompso@pearl.tufts.edu
Adrian Palacios
Department of Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT. 06511
Institut des Neurosciences (CNRS- Paris VI), 9 Quai St. Bernard, 75005 Paris
E-mail: apalac@yalevm.bitnet
Francisco J. Varela
Institut des Neurosciences (CNRS- Paris VI), 9 Quai St. Bernard, 75005 Paris
CREA, Ecole Polytechnique, 1 rue Descartes, 75005 Paris
E-mail: fv@frunip62.bitnet
Different explanations of color vision favor different philosophical
positions: Computational vision is more compatible with objectivism
(the color is in the object), psychophysics and neurophysiology with
subjectivism (the color is in the head). Comparative research suggests
that an explanation of color must be both experientialist (unlike
objectivism) and ecological (unlike subjectivism). Computational
vision's emphasis on optimally "recovering" prespecified features of
the environment (i.e., distal properties, independent of the
sensory-motor capacities of the animal) is unsatisfactory. Conceiving
of visual perception instead as the visual guidance of activity in an
environment that is determined largely by that very activity suggests
new directions for research.
Keywords: adaptation, color vision, comparative vision, computation,
evolution, ecological optics, objectivism, ontology, qualia, sensory
physiology, subjectivism.
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Stevan Harnad Department of Psychology Princeton University
harnad@clarity.princeton.edu / harnad@pucc.bitnet / srh@flash.bellcore.com
harnad@learning.siemens.com / harnad@elbereth.rutgers.edu / (609)-921-7771