Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Bramão, Inês
• Reis, Alexandra
• Petersson, Karl Magnus
• Faísca, Luís

Titel

The role of color information on object recognition: A review and meta-analysis

Ist Teil von

• Acta psychologica, 2011-09, Vol.138 (1), p.244-253

Ort / Verlag

Kidlington: Elsevier B.V

Erscheinungsjahr

2011

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• 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. ► Thirty-five independent experiments were included in a meta-analysis. ► We found a moderate effect of color on object recognition. ► Color diagnosticity is the factor with the greatest moderator effect. ► The role of color should be taken into account in models of visual object recognition.