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The diagnosticity of color for emotional objects

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Abstract

Object classification can be facilitated if simple diagnostic features can be used to determine class membership. Previous studies have found that simple shapes may be diagnostic for emotional content and automatically alter the allocation of visual attention. In the present study, we analyzed whether color is diagnostic of emotional content and tested whether emotionally diagnostic hues alter the allocation of visual attention. Reddish-yellow hues are more common in (i.e., diagnostic of) emotional images, particularly images with positive emotional content. An exogenous cueing paradigm was employed to test whether these diagnostic hues orient attention differently from other hues due to the emotional diagnosticity. In two experiments, we found that participants allocated attention differently to diagnostic hues than to non-diagnostic hues, in a pattern indicating a broadening of spatial attention when cued with diagnostic hues. Moreover, the attentional broadening effect was predicted by self-reported measures of affective style, linking the behavioral effect to emotional processes. These results confirm the existence and use of diagnostic features for the rapid detection of emotional content.

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Notes

  1. However, one should note that this representation is not identical to that in the thalamus because it is based on a transformation of RGB image coordinates rather than the relative activation-level of photoreceptors with long, medium or short wavelength sensitivities. Using this more biologically accurate model requires physical measurements from the display used during original IAPS emotional rating task, which is not possible.

  2. Two-dimensional color histograms were constructed using the H (hue) and S (saturation) dimensions, and the emotional versus non-emotional effect was significant for six highly-saturated reddish hues (peak effect was t(358) = 5.10).

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Acknowledgments

BWM was supported by T32-HD007151.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and the Center for Cognitive Science, University of Minnesota, 75 E River Road, Minneapolis, MN, 55544, USA

    Brenton W. McMenamin, Jasmine Radue, Joanna Trask, Kristin Huskamp, Daniel Kersten & Chad J. Marsolek

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  1. Brenton W. McMenamin
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  2. Jasmine Radue
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  3. Joanna Trask
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Correspondence to Brenton W. McMenamin.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 6.

Table 6 IAPS slides used in color analysis
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McMenamin, B.W., Radue, J., Trask, J. et al. The diagnosticity of color for emotional objects. Motiv Emot 37, 609–622 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-012-9319-0

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