Cross-cultural variation of memory colors of familiar objects

Author(s)

Smet, Kevin A. G. ^[1] ; Lin, Yandan ^[2] ; Nagy, Balazs V. ^{[3, 4, 5]} ; Nemeth, Zoltan ^[5] ; Duque-Chica, Gloria L. ^{[3, 4]} ; Quintero, Jesus M. ^[6] ; Chen, Hung-Shing ^[7] ; Luo, Ronnier M. ^{[7, 8]} ; Safi, Mahdi ^[9] ; Hanselaer, Peter ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Katholieke Univ Leuven, ESAT Light & Lighting Lab, Ghent - Belgium

^[2] Fudan Univ, Inst Elect Light Sources, Shanghai 200433 - Peoples R China

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Ctr Neurosci & Behav, Inst Psychol, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[4] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Expt Psychol, Inst Psychol, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[5] Budapest Univ Technol & Econ, Dept Mechatron Opt & Engn Informat, Budapest - Hungary

^[6] Univ Nacl Colombia, Dept Elect & Elect Engn, Bogota - Colombia

^[7] Natl Taiwan Univ Sci & Technol, Grad Inst Electroopt Engn, Taipei - Taiwan

^[8] Univ Leeds, Sch Design, Leeds, W Yorkshire - England

^[9] Inst Color Sci & Technol, Color Imaging & Color Image Proc Dept, Tehran - Iran

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Optics Express; v. 22, n. 26, p. 32308-32328, DEC 29 2014.
• Web of Science Citations: 15

Abstract

The effect of cross-regional or cross-cultural differences on color appearance ratings and memory colors of familiar objects was investigated in seven different countries/regions - Belgium, Hungary, Brazil, Colombia, Taiwan, China and Iran. In each region the familiar objects were presented on a calibrated monitor in over 100 different colors to a test panel of observers that were asked to rate the similarity of the presented object color with respect to what they thought the object looks like in reality (memory color). For each object and region the mean observer ratings were modeled by a bivariate Gaussian function. A statistical analysis showed significant (p < 0.001) differences between the region average observers and the global average observer obtained by pooling the data from all regions. However, the effect size of geographical region or culture was found to be small. In fact, the differences between the region average observers and the global average observer were found to of the same magnitude or smaller than the typical within region inter-observer variability. Thus, although statistical differences in color appearance ratings and memory between regions were found, regional impact is not likely to be of practical importance. (c) 2014 Optical Society of America (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/03553-0 - Study of the role of melanopsin through the pupillary light response in optic neuropathy and disturbed sleep
• Grantee: Gloria Liliana Duque Chica
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate