TY - JOUR PY - 2011// TI - The role of color information on object recognition: A review and meta-analysis JO - Acta psychologica A1 - Bramão, Inês A1 - Reis, Alexandra A1 - Petersson, Karl Magnus A1 - Faísca, Luís SP - 244 EP - 253 VL - 138 IS - 1 N2 - In this study, we systematically review the scientific literature on the effect of color on object recognition. Thirty-five independent experiments, comprising 1535 participants, were included in a meta-analysis. We found a moderate effect of color on object recognition (d=0.28). Specific effects of moderator variables were analyzed and we found that color diagnosticity is the factor with the greatest moderator effect on the influence of color in object recognition; studies using color diagnostic objects showed a significant color effect (d=0.43), whereas a marginal color effect was found in studies that used non-color diagnostic objects (d=0.18). The present study did not permit the drawing of specific conclusions about the moderator effect of the object recognition task; while the meta-analytic review showed that color information improves object recognition mainly in studies using naming tasks (d=0.36), the literature review revealed a large body of evidence showing positive effects of color information on object recognition in studies using a large variety of visual recognition tasks. We also found that color is important for the ability to recognize artifacts and natural objects, to recognize objects presented as types (line-drawings) or as tokens (photographs), and to recognize objects that are presented without surface details, such as texture or shadow. Taken together, the results of the meta-analysis strongly support the contention that color plays a role in object recognition. This suggests that the role of color should be taken into account in models of visual object recognition.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0001-6918 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2011.06.010 ID - ref1 ER -