Elucidating the common basis for task-dependent differential manifestations of category advantage: a decision theoretic approach

Abstract

Cross-category hues are differentiated easier than otherwise equidistant hues that belong to the same linguistic category. This effect is typically manifested through both accuracy and response time gains in tasks with a memory component, whereas only response times are affected when there is no memory component. This raises the question of whether there is a common generative process underlying the differential behavioral manifestations of category advantage in color perception. For instance, within the framework of noisy evidence accumulation models, changes in accuracy can be readily attributed to an increase in the efficacy of perceptual evidence integration (after controlling for threshold setting), whereas changes in response time can also be attributed to shorter nondecisional delays (e.g., due to facilitated signal detection). To address the latent decision processes underlying category advantage across different behavioral demands, we introduce a decision-theoretic perspective (i.e., diffusion decision model) to categorical color perception in three complementary experiments. In Experiment 1, we collected data from a binary color naming task (1) to determine the green-blue boundary in our sample and (2) to trace how parameter estimates of interest in the model output change as a function of color typicality. In Experiments 2 and 3, we used same-different task paradigms (with and without a memory component, respectively) and traced the category advantage in color discrimination in two parameters of the diffusion decision model: nondecision time and drift rate. An increase in drift rate predominantly characterized the category advantage in both tasks. Our results show that improved efficiency in perceptual evidence integration is a common driving force behind different manifestations of category advantage.