title: Event-related potentials reveal linguistic suppression effect but not enhancement effect on categorical perception of color.
abstract: The present study used the event-related potential technique to investigate the nature of linguistic effect on color perception. Four types of stimuli based on hue differences between a target color and a preceding color were used: zero hue step within-category color (0-WC); one hue step within-category color (1-WC); one hue step between-category color (1-BC); and two hue step between-category color (2-BC). The ERP results showed no significant effect of stimulus type in the 100-200 ms time window. However, in the 200-350 ms time window, ERP responses to 1-WC target color overlapped with that to 0-WC target color for right visual field (RVF) but not left visual field (LVF) presentation. For the 1-BC condition, ERP amplitudes were comparable in the two visual fields, both being significantly different from the 0-WC condition. The 2-BC condition showed the same pattern as the 1-BC condition. These results suggest that the categorical perception of color in RVF is due to linguistic suppression on within-category color discrimination but not between-category color enhancement, and that the effect is independent of early perceptual processes.
authors.affiliation: Center for Studies of Psychological Application & School of Psychology, South China Normal University, China; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, China; Guangdong Center of Mental Assistance and Contingency Technique for Emergency, China.
authors.forename: Aitao
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yanping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Meichao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yulan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: Honghong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Categorical perception; Color; ERP; Language suppression