The Effect of Congenital Blindness on Color Cognition: An ERP Study

doi:10.12139/j.1672-0628.2022.03.001

Abstract

Abstract: Are perception and cognition independent of each other? This study investigated the effect of congenital blindness on color cognition by comparing the behavioral responses and neurophysiological signal changes of congenitally blind participants and sighted participants. The results showed that the congenitally blind participants had certain color knowledge, but the level was lower than that of the sighted participants. Both groups had the N400 effect induced by color mismatch, and both showed left hemisphere dominance. However, the N400 effect of the blind group was greater than that of the sighted group, and the latency of N400 response in the blind group was shorter than that of the sighted group. These results suggest that direct visual experience is a sufficient but not a necessary condition for color cognition.

Key words: congenital blindness, color cognition, color knowledge, N400

摘要： 感觉与认知是否是相互独立的？本研究通过对比先天盲被试与明眼被试在进行物体颜色判断时的行为反应和神经电生理信号变化，探讨视觉经验缺失对颜色认知的影响。结果发现，先天盲被试具有一定的颜色知识，但其水平低于明眼被试；两组被试都出现了由颜色不匹配所诱发的N400效应，且都表现出左半球优势；但是盲人组的N400效应大于明眼组，盲人组的N400反应潜伏期小于明眼组。该结果说明，直接的视觉经验是颜色认知的充分条件而非必要条件。

关键词: 先天盲, 颜色认知, 颜色知识, N400

CLC Number:

B842

FENG Jie, XU Juan, LI Yalan, WU Xinchun. The Effect of Congenital Blindness on Color Cognition: An ERP Study[J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2022, 20(3): 289-296.

冯杰, 徐娟, 李亚兰, 伍新春. 先天视觉经验缺失对颜色认知的影响：一项ERP研究[J]. 心理与行为研究, 2022, 20(3): 289-296.

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