Neuroelectric concepts: form-color classification

Visual event-related potentials (VEPs) were recorded from the scalp of human observers who viewed an orthogonal stimulus set, consisting of four stimuli, each of which had two attributes: a form (circle or triangle) and a color (green or red). The stimulus set was represented by an a priori stimulus classification model, defined by positions (i.e., degrees of arc) on a unit circle that specified the relationships among the form and color features. An analysis of VEP deviation waveshapes (delta VEP: deviations around average VEP for each electrode) showed that the a priori unit circle model predicted morphologies of the delta VEP waveshapes, as well as the overall relationships between waveshapes obtained for the form and the color attributes. Further analyses demonstrated that individual delta VEP waveshapes for color and for form were located on the circumference of a unit circle at the positions (angle) specified by the a priori model. The studies show that formal modeling of the way humans classify stimulus attributes provides a quantitative and predictive model of the way VEPs become classified and organized according to psychological principles.