While perusing my Sunday paper, I came across Marilyn Vos Savant’s column in the Parade magazine. Normally, I don’t take issue with things written by the person who has the Guinness record for highest IQ. My IQ is respectable for my profession, but it is not in the lofty heights of Marilyn’s.
However, I have to disagree with one of Marilyn’s answers published today. A reader asked whether or not men and women see color the same way, and Marilyn responded by saying, “The only difference is that color blindness affects about 20 times as many males as females.”
Oops. That’s not correct. Kimberly Jameson of UC Irvine and her colleagues have presented compelling data about individual differences and sex differences in color vision. We have reason to believe that large numbers of women may have 4 photopigments, rather than the usual 3. Here’s the reasoning. The genes for the “green” and “red” photopigments are on the X chromosome. Most dichromats (mostly male) have two slightly different “red” or two slightly different “green” photopigments, which makes distinguishing between red and green very difficult. Consequently, the dichromats’ mothers can have a typical X and an X carrying one of the anomalous red or green genes. Add in Mom’s “blue” photopigment from Chromosome 7, and bingo–you have 4 photopigments.
(If you’re curious about what the world looks like to someone who is colorblind, click here.)
Photopigments are one thing, and the response of the brain is another. Can the brain “see” input based on 4 photopigments? The answer appears to be yes.
This is a figure from Jameson, Highnote, and Wasserman (2001). The figure compares the choices of women with 4 or 3 photopigments who were asked to pick the “best” part of the spectrum for violet, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red, in that order. As you can see, the little red (or are they orange???) dots showing the average group choices are slightly different. Where would you place your answers?
Jameson has written extensively on the impact of culture on color naming, and she raises the possibility that the cross-cultural preference for pinks and violets found among women may be more biological than previously thought. Many women may simply see these colors differently than men do.
For further information on this topic, check out Kimberly Jameson’s website at UC Irvine.
12 Comments
bhidahl · March 2, 2008 at 9:58 pm
This is a very interesting study. I have always wondered if there are color perception differences between people. For example, my dad will put on a shirt thats I think is considerably magenta, but he views it more as purple. I’ve actually gotten into some interesting arguments about shades of color, the latest while shopping with my roommate for throw pillows for our couch – she thought they were maroon and i thought they were violet. So this makes me believe that not only are there color perception differences between genders but between people in general.
Swedish55 · March 2, 2008 at 11:36 pm
I was not surprised at all by the data showing differences in perception of color. After helping my mom update our kitchen and bathrooms, I noticed there was always a slight difference in opinion when describing and comparing colors. I have also argued with my boyfriend several times over the difference between blue and green, especially when a color has a little of both in it. We always think they are different. I believe that I tend to go toward blue, while he tends to go toward green, I’m not positive though. It is pretty crazy to think about how differently we all literally see the world and it’s color. It would also be interesting to find out more about how colors effect mood, and if they are different for men and women due to our perception differences.
shelleyberger · March 3, 2008 at 12:52 pm
I never really noticed the differences in color, but maybe that was because I don’t have very good vision to begin with. I have always been interested in colorblindness, and I never really understood it. The link to what colorblind people see was enlightening, and intriuging to me. It scares me how it is possible to not be able to see some of the beautiful colors in this world. Also, how do they discover what people actually see? I remember talking about dogs and their visual spectrum- why is it that certain species see colors and others do not? This is an easy question when it comes to avoiding danger, but if nature purposefully creates these colors, why wouldnt every species be able to see them? What other colors exist that humans can’t see? I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around it all.
With regards to the preference to colors, I definately see color as subjectively cultural. Women in our culture are raised to prefer certain colors that are associated with femininity, but I find it very interesting that it might be biological. What would be the advantage to have stronger color receptors for these colors for women?
rnadams · March 3, 2008 at 7:46 pm
That’s really interesting. It hadn’t really occurred to me that men and women might actually see colors differently- or even just different people. Why might that be? I had always attributed disagreements over color shading to preference or simply seeing what you want to see ( or maybe to what is culturally acceptable.) Anyhow, I always figured it was more cognitive.
The link to images of what it looks like to be colorblind are crazy. The world would look so different. Now I want to learn about how researchers know what it looks like to be colorblind.
rcrowley · March 4, 2008 at 6:02 pm
That is very interesting data! I had never considered the possibility of people seeing color from different perspectives when color blindness isn’t present. I actually just recently learned that it is possible for women to be color blind. I previously thought that women could only be carriers of the gene. My understanding is that there are differing degrees of color blindness, some may have more of an inability than others. Perhaps the most alarming photos of what the world looks like to people who are color blind are the traffic lights. I have a close friend who is color blind who has mentioned the bad planning of having red stop signs surrounded by green bushes and plants, it just doesn’t stand out.
I would also be interested to see pictures that depict how people with 4 photopigments see color differently than people with 3 photopigments. Very interesting post!
biopsych · March 6, 2008 at 5:34 pm
I clicked on the link showing what the world looks like to people who are colorblind. I had never before thought about the implications that being color blind would have on driving. The pictures on the website depicted all the lights as being yellowish-green. This would be very problematic to say the least to someone driving (and everyone else on the road).
It was interesting to hear about Marilyn Savant. In classes I have heard about Savant behavior, particularly in some individuals with Autism.
ccallag · March 12, 2008 at 10:34 am
I’ve always wondered if other peolpe view colors and images the same. Especially i’ve wondered if there are significant differences between how men and women view colors. I always heard that men see color more vividly then women due to the fact that they are more visual creatures. I found the website interesting that showed how people who are color blind or view colors different then normal becaus i’ve always wondered that.
stclark · March 12, 2008 at 10:45 am
It doesn’t surprise me in the least to learn that there may be gender differences in how people perceive color. I’ve had a very heated argument with a male friend over a hue that he swore was just bright yellow, but I could clearly see had a slight lime tint. I told him to get his eyes checked and he told me to stop using hallucinogens! But seriously, it has often seemed to me that men have a narrower range of hue appreciation than women. Where I see varying degrees of teal or turquoise, they see either blue or green. But I’m not sure whether that is truly a lack of color perception or a lack of vocabulary with which to describe a color that is perceived. I feel really bad for colorblind people though, the colorblind link was ugly and boring. Everything was olive green! Not that olive isn’t ok, but to miss out on the emerald, hunter, and Kelly greens of life?! How sad. The world is more beautiful in color. I wish I had 4 photopigments………..
jensoc07 · March 12, 2008 at 11:04 am
This is a very interesting subject. I liked the comment about how it would be interesting to see if colorblindness can affect our mood. Females are said to be more emotional and expressive and maybe that has to do with how they see the world. The pictures in the link on how colorblind people see the world were definately more vibrant and captivating when there was red in them. The other ones seemed rather dull. Maybe women are more emotional because they see the world through a different lense.
bldrysdale · March 12, 2008 at 11:55 am
I to have had many areguments over what color things are. It seems everyone has different oppinions. It was mentioned that pinks and violets might have a preference. In the discussions I’ve had, we usually fight over what kind of pink a shirt is. Usually it has to do with the color Salmon. I’d like to see a more in depth study on how pinks are viewed by different people or about if women are more emotional due to this different lense as jensoc07 discussed.
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