Perception of Warm and Cool Colors
type: CreativeWork
description: Warm and cool judgements of color perception are a fundamental aspect of visual experience. Very few studies have been conducted on this aspect of perception and only recently has this dimension of color perception gained traction in the visual sciences. In this work, I examine the nature of warm vs cool judgements, what dimension they inhabit in color processing, how we perceive them, and how warm-cool hues influence visual adaptation. In the first study, I examine how individuals categorize colors in cone-opponent space and how ratings of warm versus cool map onto asymmetries inherently found in perceptually uniform color spaces. In the second study, I explore the reason for this asymmetry and why the warm-cool dimension aligns well with it by using a visual search paradigm to test the salience characteristics of hues. In the third and final study, I test differences between the warm and the cool dimension using a threshold task to examine which side (warm or cool) dominates perception. Together, these studies should provide a picture of the nature of warm-cool judgements and what colors we are most adapted to given our visual diets.
abstract: Warm and cool judgements of color perception are a fundamental aspect of visual experience. Very few studies have been conducted on this aspect of perception and only recently has this dimension of color perception gained traction in the visual sciences. In this work, I examine the nature of warm vs cool judgements, what dimension they inhabit in color processing, how we perceive them, and how warm-cool hues influence visual adaptation. In the first study, I examine how individuals categorize colors in cone-opponent space and how ratings of warm versus cool map onto asymmetries inherently found in perceptually uniform color spaces. In the second study, I explore the reason for this asymmetry and why the warm-cool dimension aligns well with it by using a visual search paradigm to test the salience characteristics of hues. In the third and final study, I test differences between the warm and the cool dimension using a threshold task to examine which side (warm or cool) dominates perception. Together, these studies should provide a picture of the nature of warm-cool judgements and what colors we are most adapted to given our visual diets.
author: Manalansan, Jake
language: en_US
language: English
keywords: Color, Cool, Perception, Warm
date published: 2025
date modified: 2026-07-27T21:47:58Z
provider: University of Nevada - Reno
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Nevada - Reno