Abstract
Does color influence object recognition? In the present study, the degree to which an object was associated with a specific color was referred to ascolor diagnosticity. Using a feature listing and typicality measure, objects were identified as either high in color diagnosticity or low in color diagnosticity. According to the color diagnosticity hypothesis, color should more strongly influence the recognition of high color diagnostic (HCD) objects (e.g., a banana) than the recognition of low color diagnostic (LCD) objects (e.g., a lamp). This prediction was supported by results from classification, naming, and verification experiments, in which subjects were faster to identify color versions of HCD objects than they were to identify achromatic versions and incongruent color versions. In contrast, subjects were no faster to identify color versions of LCD objects than they were to identify achromatic and incongruent color versions. Moreover, when shape information was degraded but color information preserved, subjects were less impaired in their recognition of degraded HCD objects than of degraded LCD objects, relative to their nondegraded versions. Collectively, these results suggest that color plays a role in the recognition of HCD objects.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Battig, W. F., & Montague. W. E. (1969). Category norms for verbal items in 56 categories: A replication and extension of the Connecticut category norms.Journal of Experimental Psychology Monographs,80(3, Pt. 2).
Biecerman.I. (1987). Recognition-by-components: A theory of human image understanding.Psychological Review,94, 115–147.
Biederman, I., &Ju, G. (1988). Surface versus edge-based determinants of visual recognition.Cognitive Psychology,20, 38–64.
Callaghan, T. C. (1984). Dimensional interaction of hue and brightness in preattentive field segregation.Perception & Psychophysics,36, 25–34.
Cavanagh, P. (1987). Reconstructing the third dimension: Interactions between color, texture, motion, binocular disparity, and shape.Computer Vision, Graphics & Image Processing,37,171–1955.
Corbeil, J. C, &Archambault, A. (Eds.) (1992).The MacMillan visual dictionary. New York: MacMillan.
Davidoff, J. B., &Ostergaard, A. L. (1988). The role of color in categorical judgments.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,40A 533–544.
Farah, M. J., &McClelland, J. L. (1991). A computational model of semantic memory impairment: Modality specificity and emergent category specificity.Journal of Experimental Psvchologv: General,120,339–357.
Gibson, E. J. (1969).Principles of perceptual learning and development. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Grossberc.S., &Mingolla, E. (1985). Neural dynamics of perceptual grouping: Textures, boundaries, and emergent segmentations.Perception & Psychophysics,38, 141–171.
Humphrey.G. K., Goodale, M. A., Jakobson, L. S., &Servos, P. (1994). The role of surface information in object recognition: Studies of visual form agnosic and normal subjects.Perception,23, 1457–1481.
Joseph, J. E., &Proffitt, D. (1996). Semantic versus perceptual influences of color in object recognition.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,22, 407–429.
Legge.G. E., Parish, D. H., Luebker, A., &Wurm, L. H. (1990). Psychophysics of reading: XI. Comparing color contrast and luminance contrast.Journal of the Optical Society of America A,7, 2002–2010.
Livingstone, M. D., &Hubel, D. H. (1987). Psychophysical evidence for separate channels for the perception of form, color, movement, and depth.Journal of Neuroscience,7, 3416–3468.
Mapelli, D., &Behrmann, M. (1997). The role of color in object recognition: Evidence from visual agnosia.Neurocase,3, 237–247.
Marr.D. (1982).Vision. San Francisco: Freeman.
Neisser, U. (1967).Cognitive psychology. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Ostergaard, A. L., &Davidoff, J. B. (1985). Some effects of color on naming and recognition of objects.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,11, 579–587.
Parish.D. H., &Sperling, G. (1991). Object spatial frequencies, retinal spatial frequencies, noise, and the efficiency of letter discrimination.Vision Research,31, 1399–1415.
Price, C. J., &Humphreys.G. W. (1989). The effects of surface detail on object categorization and naming.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,41A, 797–828.
Rosch, E., Mervis, C. B., Gray, W., Johnson, D., &Boyes-Braem, P. (1976). Basic objects in natural categories.Cognitive Psychology,8, 382–439.
Tanaka, J. W., & Szechter, L. (1997).Normative feature listings for the 260 Snodgrass and Vanderwart objects. Unpublished manuscript.
Troscianko.T., &Harris, J. P. (1988). Phase discrimination in compound chromatic gratings.Vision Research,28, 1041–1049.
Ullman.S. (1984). Visual routines.Cognition,18, 97–159.
Wurm.L. H., Legge.G. E., Isenberg.L. M., &Luebker.A. (1993). Color improves object recognition in normal and low vision.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,19, 899–911.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This research was supported by NIH Grant R15 HD30433, a Keck Foundation Faculty Research Award, and a COSEN summer research grant. We thank Jen Sable and Michael Giles for their assistance in conducting this research and Marjorie Henderson for her help in preparing this manuscript. We are grateful to Cleve Gilmore for the use of his photometer and technical assistance. Gary Gillund and Jim Danemiller provided useful comments on an earlier version of the paper.
—Accepted by previous editor, Myron L. Braunstein
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tanaka, J.W., Presnell, L.M. Color diagnosticity in object recognition. Perception & Psychophysics 61, 1140–1153 (1999). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207619
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03207619