Color diagnosticity in object recognition

Does color influence object recognition? In the present study, the degree to which an object was associated with a specific color was referred to as color 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.