A common misconception is that color refers only to a wavelength of li

Question

A common misconception is that color refers only to a wavelength of light in the visual spectrum, from about 400 nanometers (violet) to about 700 nanometers (red). When an object reflects light of a given wavelength, we see that object as the corresponding color. So, for example, we might see a Braebum apple as red and a Granny Smith apple as green because they reflect light of different wavelengths. However, color is not merely a property of an external physical object but rather the result of an interaction among that object, the light that shines on it, and, finally but most significantly, the manner in which the human eye and brain make sense of the reflected light stimulus. Thus, the study of color can properly fall as much within the realm of psychology as that of physics.

Experience is one psychological factor that informs our perception of color. For example, a child eating by a campfire that emits a great deal of yellow light may believe that the melted Cheddar cheese served on white bread on a white paper plate is actually a white cheese like Swiss or Monterey jack. This occurs because the yellow light reflects off both the plate and the bread, which the child knows are white, and off the cheese, which the child isn't sure about. All the objects therefore appear to be the same color, and the child assumes that color is white. On the other hand, an adult with experience viewing things in firelight would intuitively adjust her perception to account for the yellow light and would not make the same mistake.

Color is also perceived differently depending on its context. The noted abstract painter Josef Albers produced an influential body of work based on this phenomenon, including his series Homage to the Square featuring nested squares of different colors. In one psychological experiment testing perception, the letter Xis presented against two colored backgrounds. Although the letter is identical each time it is presented, it appears olive green in one context and lavender in the other context. This effect is achieved when the X is given a low-saturation blue color, or gray-blue, and the backgrounds are also low-saturation colors with hues on either side of blue on the color wheel. Because blue falls between purple and green on the color wheel, a gray-blue X against a gray-purple background will look gray-green, or olive, and the same X against an olive background will look gray-purple, or lavender. In a similar manner, an intermediate color will look different against different primary color backdrops; teal, for instance, will look green against a blue background and blue against a green background.

Other subjective factors also influence the experience of color. These include cultural norms (Westerners most often name blue as their favorite color, whereas in China red is preferred) and simply what we learn about color. Consider that if a child learns that stop signs are "red," the child will call them "red." Another person in that society will also have learned to call stop signs "red." However, whether the two people are experiencing the same color is unknown since that experience exists only in the mind. Therefore, if one were to tell an interior designer that color is an immutable physical property of objects, one would meet with skepticism. Before placing the electric blue sofa in a client's living room, the designer considers the color of light the various light fixtures will emanate, the colors of the carpet and walls, and her client's feelings about electric blue, which after all may not even be the same color in the client's mind as it is in the designer's.   1 
 B 
 1) Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?

A) Color is primarily a psychological construct, and therefore the study of physics is not relevant to an understanding of how color is perceived. 
B) The phenomenon of color is a combined effect of the wavelength of light that shines on an object, the wavelength of light reflected by the object, and the human mind's perception of the light stimulus that comes to the eye. 
C) Scientists have determined that although people may perceive color differently in different situations, color is an immutable characteristic of objects. 
D) Creative professionals, such as artists and interior designers, view color significantly differently than do scientists. 
E) To say that an object is a particular color is meaningless because color is a subjective perception influenced by experience, culture, and context and cannot therefore be ascertained to be a specific physical characteristic.

2 
 A 
 2) The author would be most likely to agree with which of the following ideas?

A) When attempting to achieve a particular aesthetic effect, a graphic designer should consider how the color used for the border of an advertisement will appear next to the color of the text. 
B) A decorator working for a client in China would not purchase an electric blue sofa for that individual's living room, because blue is not a preferred color in China.
C) Companies designing packaging for their products should avoid using gray tones because these would cause different customers to see the colors differently, thereby rendering the brand message inconsistent. 
D) Because red is a primary color, a wall should not be painted red if a sofa of an intermediate color will be placed against it, as the sofa's color may be distorted by its proximity to the wall. 
E) Artists often explore the interaction of adjacent colors when juxtaposing different forms in the composition of their paintings.

3 
 A  
 3) According to the passage, which of the following accurately describes human perception of color?

A) A low-saturation color against a low-saturation background of an adjacent hue on the color wheel will appear a similar shade as the other adjacent hue.
B) An intermediate color against a background that is one of the intermediate color’s component primary colors will be difficult to distinguish from that background.
C) Letters written in an intermediate color or in a low-saturation color are more likely to be misread by children than by adults. 
 
 4 
 E  
 4) The author mentions Josef Albers in paragraph 3 in order to

A) argue that artists are aware of how humans perceive color and use this phenomenon to enhance the impact of their work. 
B) illustrate the idea that color is fundamentally a subjective, aesthetic phenomenon rather than a scientific one. 
C) demonstrate that a child would probably see a painting in the  Homage to the Square  series differently than would an adult. 
D) explain that humans perceive the color of regular shapes, such as squares, differently than they perceive the color of less regular shapes, such as food on a plate or a letter of the alphabet. 
E) provide an example that reinforces the importance of the concept that color is a subjective experience manufactured in part within the human mind

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

1) Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?

In the first paragraph, the author states that color is not only a function of wavelength, and then the key word  “However”  signals what color actually is:  “not merely”  a physical property,  “but rather”  the product of an interaction among the object’s properties (specifically, how it reflects light), the light itself, and the human observer. The rest of the passage elaborates on this interaction of the physical properties of light and the perception of light. Answer  choice (B)  states this idea and is correct.

Choice (A)  is extreme because of the words  “primarily”  in the first part and  “not relevant”  in the second part; in the last sentence of paragraph 1, the author says the study of color is appropriate for both psychology and physics.

The word  “immutable”  in  choice (C)  means  “unchanging”  and thus directly contradicts the Main Idea of the passage, which is that color is a construct of multiple factors and these factors can vary for any given object.

Choice (D)  might be inferred from the passage, but this is not the main point of the passage, which is about the nature of color and not about people’s reactions to color.

Choice (E)  is extreme due to the word  “meaningless.”  Although objects may appear different colors to different people under different conditions, and one can never be sure what another person means by the word red, the author never says it is without meaning to, for example, describe an apple as red. 
 
  Answer: B

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

2) The author would be most likely to agree with which of the following ideas?

To prepare to answer this Inference question, review the points the author has made in the passage. The correct answer must be true given what the author has said. In paragraph 3, the author states that the color of an object changes depending on nearby colors. Therefore, answer  choice (A)  is supported.

Choice (B)  misuses the detail that blue is not the favorite color of most Chinese. This does not mean that no Chinese person would like an electric blue sofa—after all, most people own objects of many colors, including colors that are not their favorite—and some Chinese people may prefer blue.

Choice (C)  is not supported. Using low-saturation or grayish tones next to each other can result in colors looking different than they would in isolation or next to other colors, but it does not result in different people perceiving the colors differently.

Choice (D)  is a distortion. The passage states that an item of an intermediate color that is placed near a colorwheel-adjacent primary color, such as orange placed near red, will look more like the primary color on the other side of it (orange next to red will look more yellow). Nothing suggests this effect is undesirable, so  choice (D)’s “should not”  is unsupported. Also, the passage only discusses the interaction of intermediate and primary colors that are next to each other on the color wheel, but this answer choice refers to any intermediate color being placed next to red.

Finally, although one artist, Josef Albers, worked with color in this way, the passage does not suggest that artists in general  “often”  do this, and  choice (E)  is incorrect.

Answer: A

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

3) According to the passage, which of the following accurately describes human perception of color?

“According to the passage”  signals a Detail question. Research each answer choice to determine whether it matches an idea stated in the passage.

Choice (A)  is stated in paragraph 3, as shown by the example of gray-blue looking either gray-purple or gray-green when placed against a background of the other color.

Answer  choice (B)  is a 180, or the opposite of what is true. An intermediate color placed next to a component primary color will look more like the other component primary color, thus contrasting more sharply.

Choice (C)  is incorrect. According to paragraph 2, children may interpret colors differently than do adults because children lack experience interpreting color under different lighting conditions, but this has nothing to do with intermediate or low-saturation colors.

Answer: A

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

4) The author mentions Josef Albers in paragraph 3 in order to

“In order to”  signals a Logic question. It is asking why the author included Albers in the passage. Review your Passage Map. It should note that the author’s overall purpose is to explain why color is as much psychological construct as physical property. Then the Main Idea of paragraph 3, where Albers is mentioned, is that people see color differently depending on context. Thus, paragraph 3 is about a particular aspect of how color is a psychological construct. The author must mention Albers to support this idea, and answer  choice (E)  correctly states this.

The author is not making an argument about artists, so  (A)  is out.

Choice (B)  is incorrect because the author says in paragraph 1 that color does result in part from the physical properties of light and can properly be studied by physicists; the author does not mention Albers to say that color is solely a nonscientific phenomenon.

(C)  uses an idea from paragraph 2; this is not the point being made in paragraph 3.

(D)  states a comparison between different types of shapes that the passage never makes. 
 
  Answer: E

A common misconception is that color refers only to a wavelength of li

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