title: The role of color information on object recognition: a review and meta-analysis.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neuroscience Research Group, Institute of Biotechnology & Bioengineering/CBME, Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal. mibramao@ualg.pt
authors.forename: Inês
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bramão
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.forename: Karl Magnus
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Petersson
authors.forename: Luís
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Faísca
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D003116:Color; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*