In this study, we investigated the level of visual processing at which surface color information improves the recognition of color diagnostic and non-color diagnostic objects. Continuous electroencephalograms were recorded while participants performed a visual object naming task in which colored and black-and-white versions of both types of objects were presented. The blackand-white and the color presentations were compared in two groups of event-related potentials (ERPs): (1) the P1 and N1 components, indexing early visual processing; and (2) the N400 component, which index late visual processing. A color effect was observed in the P1 and N1 components, for both color and non-color diagnostic objects. In addition, for color diagnostic objects, a color effect was observed in the N400 component. These results suggest that color information is important for the recognition of color and non-color diagnostic objects at different levels of visual processing. It thus appears that the visual system uses color information, during recognition of both object types, at early visual stages; however for the color diagnostic objects recognition, color information is also recruited during the late visual processing stages.
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