Andrew J. Elliot is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Approach-Avoidance Motivation research group at the University of Rochester, New York. Mark D. Fairchild is Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Education of Rochester Institute of Technology's College of Science, and Director of the Program of Color Science and Munsell Color Science Laboratory. Anna Franklin is a Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex and Director of the Sussex Colour Group.

'Not simply an engineer's labels for different parts of the visible spectrum, colors cut deep into our emotions and splash all over our cognition. Colors are … a big deal, and this book takes one on an introductory journey into why.' Mark Changizi, Director of Human Cognition, 2AI Labs, Indiana

• Part I. Introduction: 1. Introduction and overview Andrew J. Elliot, Mark D. Fairchild and Anna Franklin; Part II. Foundations: Basics of Color Science: 2. Color models and systems Mark D. Fairchild; 3. Fundamentals of color vision I: color processing in the eye Andrew Stockman and David H. Brainard; 4. Fundamentals of color vision II: higher-order color processing Karl R. Gegenfurtner and Robert Ennis; 5. Evolution of color vision and its reflections in contemporary mammals Gerald H. Jacobs; 6. Some philosophical questions about color Don Dedrick; Part III. Development of and Differences in Color Vision: 7. Emergence and early development of color vision and color perception Marc H. Bornstein; 8. Color vision changes in normal aging John L. Barbur and Marisa Rodriguez-Carmona; 9. Individual differences in color vision Michael A. Webster; 10. Color vision deficiencies Neil R. A. Parry; Part IV. Color Categorization: 11. Universality of color categorization Paul Kay; 12. Color categorization across cultures Jules Davidoff; 13. Development of color categorization Anna Franklin; 14. The meaning of color words in a cross-linguistic perspective Anna Wierzbicka; Part V. Color Symbolism and Association: 15. Early color symbolism Ian Watts; 16. Symbolic use of color in ritual, tradition, and folklore John B. Hutchings; 17. Color in camouflage, mimicry, and warning signals Martin Stevens, Lina Maria Arenas and Alice E. Lown; 18. Use of color in warnings Michael S. Wogalter, Christopher B. Mayhorn and Olga A. Zielinska; 19. Color emotion and color harmony Li-chen Ou; 20. Do metaphors color our perception of social life? Brian P. Meier; Part VI. Color Preferences: 21. Ecological aspects of color preference Karen B. Schloss and Stephen E. Palmer; 22. Biological, cultural, and developmental influences on color preferences Anya Hurlbert and Angela Owen; Part VII. Color Effects on Psychological and Biological Functioning: 23. The role of color in the voluntary and involuntary guidance of selective attention Charles L. Folk; 24. Color and mate choice in non-human animals James P. Higham and Sandra Winters; 25. Color in romantic contexts in humans Adam D. Pazda and Tobias Greitemeyer; 26. Color in competition contexts in non-human animals Joanna M. Setchell; 27. Color in achievement contexts in humans Markus A. Meier, Russell A. Hill, Andrew J. Elliot and Robert A. Barton; 28. Color and face perception Ian D. Stephen and David I. Perrett; 29. Eating with our eyes: on the color of flavor Charles Spence; 30. Non-visual effects of colored light Mark S. Rea and Mariana G. Figueiro; Part VIII. Psychological Effects on Color Perception: 31. Memory effects on color perception Christopher Witzel and Thorsten Hansen; 32. Affect-related influences on color perception Michael D. Robinson, Tianwei Liu and Jessica L. Bair; Part IX. Color Phenomena: 33. Color appearance phenomena and visual illusions Garrett M. Johnson; 34. Synesthetic experiences of color Jamie Ward.