Unconscious effects of language-specific terminology on preattentive color perception

Abstract

It is now established that native language affects one's perception of the world. However, it is unknown whether this effect is merely driven by conscious, language-based evaluation of the environment or whether it reflects fundamental differences in perceptual processing between individuals speaking different languages. Using brain potentials, we demonstrate that the existence in Greek of 2 color terms-ghalazio and ble-distinguishing light and dark blue leads to greater and faster perceptual discrimination of these colors in native speakers of Greek than in native speakers of English. The visual mismatch negativity, an index of automatic and preattentive change detection, was similar for blue and green deviant stimuli during a color oddball detection task in English participants, but it was significantly larger for blue than green deviant stimuli in native speakers of Greek. These findings establish an implicit effect of language-specific terminology on human color perception.cognition ͉ cultural differences ͉ event-related potentials ͉ linguistic relativity ͉ visual mismatch negativity

Electrophysiological evidence for the left-lateralized effect of language on preattentive categorical perception of color

“…Previous research on early ERP evidence of categorical color perception has shown that it varies predictably according to language-specific terminology (25,26) and that it very probably is automatic and preattentive (28). The present study has shown that the categorical modulation of the vMMN by color difference is lateralized to the RVF and so presumably is controlled by the left cerebral hemisphere, where most language functions are housed and where this finding confirms much behavioral (2,(14)(15)(16)(17)19) and neurophysiological (23)(24)(25)(26)28) evidence. Lateralized Whorfian effects on early color processing strongly appear to be automatic and preattentive.…”

“…This finding suggests that the use of lexical information in the left hemisphere is the origin of differential visual hemifield responses to color stimuli (14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23). There has been some suggestion that the left cerebral hemispheric areas implicated in important language functions may serve as a top-down control source that modulates the activity level of the visual cortex (24)(25)(26)(27)(28), but little is known about whether this lateralized effect occurs at early, preattentive perceptual processing stages or at postperceptual decision/response phases. Visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) is widely held to reflect the brain's early and automatic change in event-related potentials (ERPs) in response to a novel stimulus (29)(30)(31).…”

“…There have been several related studies in this area, however. Thierry and associates (25,26) showed in nonlateralized studies with task-irrelevant responses that Greek speakers' vMMN components, starting around 100 ms poststimulus, peaking around 200 ms, and maximal over parietooccipital scalp areas, show sensitivity to the basic lexical distinction in the Greek language between light and dark blue, whereas English speakers show no such effect. Further ERP studies have confirmed early Whorfian effects in nonlateralized paradigms (27,28).…”

“…Within each block, 70% of the trials consisted of two identical standard colors (either G2 or B1) with a "+" fixation mark (the standard condition); 10% of the trials consisted of the same two standard colors with a "○" fixation mark (the "target" condition); 10% of the trials consisted of the standard color in the RVF and a deviant color in the LVF (the LVF-deviant condition); in the remaining 10% of trials the standard color appeared in the LVF, and the same deviant in the RVF (the RVF-deviant condition). The two blocks containing each standard color were distinguished from each other by one having the within-category deviant and the other the betweencategory deviant.Earlier, nonlateralized research (25,26,28) found that crosscategory color deviants elicit a greater vMMN response than within-category deviants, revealing language-influenced unconscious change detection at early stages of processing. From the fact that linguistic categories are activated rapidly and influence early visual processing in two visual hemifields differentially, we predicted that the vMMN effect evoked by the between-category deviant would be larger than the vMMN effect evoked by the within-category deviant only or preferentially when the deviant was presented in the RVF.…”

“…Earlier, nonlateralized research (25,26,28) found that crosscategory color deviants elicit a greater vMMN response than within-category deviants, revealing language-influenced unconscious change detection at early stages of processing. From the fact that linguistic categories are activated rapidly and influence early visual processing in two visual hemifields differentially, we predicted that the vMMN effect evoked by the between-category deviant would be larger than the vMMN effect evoked by the within-category deviant only or preferentially when the deviant was presented in the RVF.…”