Annotation of the results obtained in 2022
During the reporting period, the project team carried out the following work. (1) General strategy and research plan were developed. (2) A theoretical foundation of the methodology for studying the sociocultural specific features of color cognition was proposed and a cross-disciplinary paradigm of experimental research using hardware methods of unconscious psycho-physiological processes underlying the cognitive and affective processing of color was developed. (3) An experimental stimulus palette was developed and approved. The values of each color sample were defined in the CIELAB color space as three coordinates L*, a*, b*, where the first number, or the L* value, represents lightness of the color, whereas the a* and b* values determine its chromatic qualities (color shift toward green or red and toward blue or yellow). Computer color stimuli with specified characteristics were created. (4) To obtain new data on the cross-cultural specific features of strategies for building harmonious color combinations and determining the "geometric" parameters of the identified differences in the CIELAB color space, an online-experiment interface was developed, the stimuli of which were created on the basis of color chart by Mikhail Matyushin containing colors familiar to the practice of architecture design. (5) Two stages of independent socio-psychological experiments aimed at identifying the sociocultural specific features of color cognition among representatives of various social groups using modern hardware methods were implemented. The first stage of the empirical study included an assessment of the impact of color information on other sensory modalities of human perception, as well as the study of the influence of various conditions of color stimulation / immersion in a color environment on the processes of attention and working memory in representatives of various social and age groups (N=400). At the second stage of the empirical study, the effect of color stimulation on oculomotor activity and galvanic skin reactions was studied (N=50). (6) In the course of an online experiment, professional differences in strategies for choosing harmonious color combinations and cross-cultural specific features of representatives from seven countries (N=508) were studied, including Russia, Belarus, Algeria, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Chile and Mexico. The following scientific results were obtained. First, a system of indices was tested to assess the similarity and difference of data sets in several chromatic parameters at once (hue, saturation, brightness, lightness, contrast); the index system makes allows us to measure not only associations associated with pure colors, but also with color shades, set their intensity, and reveal correlations with groups of shades and achromatic colors. The methodology for analyzing color combinations in the CIELAB color space was tested using geometric indicators: side lengths, angles, areas and projection perimeters. Second, the impact of color information on other sensory modalities of human perception was determined. In particular, it was established that sound stimuli had a noticeable effect on the processes of cognitive processing of information associated with color. Extraneous noise was able to rebuild the system of associations of individual shades with anthropologically significant concepts. Differences appeared (1) in the structure and density of the set of color associations; (2) in the frequency of selected shades from different groups; (3) in the color images of individual concepts. Stratification of the sample in terms of sex and age allowed us to obtain fundamentally new data on the social differentiation of multimodal responses. In particular, gender differences in the influence of chromatic characteristics on tactile sensations and motivation to touch were experimentally established. Statistically significant differences in the effect of color on taste perception in people with autism spectrum disorders compared to the neurotypical were revealed. Associations between taste and color in people with autism differ in composition, prevalence of individual associations, quantity, cognitive significance, and choice semantics. The main difference is that colors in most cases evoke in them not conventional logical associations with taste, which dominate in neurotypical people, but creative ones – expressive and hidden. The collected data allowed us to assess the volume of direct auditory-speech memory, the efficiency and trajectories of memorization, the success of memorization under the influence of various color stimuli. Under the influence of black and red, yellow and blue colors, fluctuations in memorization productivity were more often observed. In the experiment with numerical stimuli, a higher level of short-term memorization was noted under the influence of black, blue and green hues. In the course of the experiment using unconstrained color naming, it was found that in people who had been exposed to the coronavirus infection COVID-19, color perception changes appeared, causing changes in the pattern of naming colors. Noticeably, the frequency of color terms such as brown, green and gray increased, as well as more frequent use of achromatic modifiers such as dirty, pale, dull and pastel. These differences indicate a general "darkening" and a decrease in the saturation of perceived colors. The change in the color naming model is indirect evidence of the coronavirus impact on color vision. Namely, the relatively high frequency of color terms brown and gray may reflect accelerated aging of the lens, and the phenomenon of “darkening” and decrease in saturation may indicate a violation of the spatial brightness contrast processing. Third, in order to obtain significant amounts of data on the semantics and structure of color units and their role in current sociocultural processes and practices, the effect of color stimulation on oculomotor activity and skin-galvanic reactions using eye-tracking methods was experimentally studied. It was established that color helped to recognize cultural landscapes faster and to remember them better. Recognition of images from different categories significantly correlated with the duration of the presentation. At the same time, the degree of color influence on attention and memorization depended on the type of cultural landscape: color was less important in purposefully created landscapes, which were built according to a plan and were characterized by a certain planning composition, and it was extremely important in naturally created ones influenced by the natural landscape and natural conditions. Forth, the cross-cultural specific features of strategies for choosing harmonious color combinations by representatives of different cultures (N=508) in the CIELAB color space were established. The differences affect the ratios of angles, side lengths, perimeters and areas of triangles formed by given and selected shades. A cultural expert examination of the obtained data was carried out, aimed at identifying the fundamental mechanisms of color cognition, its age and sociocultural specificity, including culturally determined mechanisms of perception, processing and multimodal integration of color. Fifth, the results of the study were published in 8 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals (Arts, Russian Psychological Journal, Perspectives of Science and Education, Psychologist, Psychology and Psychotechnics, Scientific Result. Social and Humanitarian Research, Social transformations), including 3 articles published in journals indexed in Web of Science and Scopus citation systems. The results of the project were presented at four scientific conferences: at the Scientific Conference of the International Color Association (AIC 2022) in Toronto (Canada, June 13–16, 2022), at the International Scientific Conference "Transmission of Cultural Experience and Social Practices in the Age of Transitivity" (Izhevsk, Russia, November 15-18, 2022), at the Third Russian Congress on Color (Smolensk, December 5–7, 2022), and at the International Colloquium "Social Transformations" (Smolensk, Russia, December 12, 2022).

 

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Annotation of the results obtained in 2023
During the reporting period, the following work was carried out. (1) Based on the oddball paradigm, a methodology for psychophysiological research aimed at identifying the brain correlates of color categorization was developed. (2) An experimental design included the simultaneous use of virtual reality technologies, methods of recording oculomotor activity, EEG and galvanic skin reactions of the body to identify correlates of conscious and unconscious information processing in various conditions of a color environment and to conduct a comparative analysis of the indicators of participants with different sociocultural features. (3) The third and fourth stages of the empirical research aimed at identifying the sociocultural specifics of color cognition among representatives of various social groups using modern hardware methods were implemented. The third stage of the empirical study included assessing the effects of color stimulation on brain activity (N=50). At the fourth stage of the empirical study, virtual reality technologies, methods of recording oculomotor activity, EEG and galvanic skin reactions were simultaneously used to identify the correlates of conscious and unconscious information processing in various conditions of the color environment (N=67). (4) The analysis of the data obtained from an online experiment aimed at studying cross-cultural differences in strategies for choosing harmonious color combinations was expanded (N=599). (5) Using the Geneva emotion wheel, age differences in associations between color and emotions were assessed, and their cross-cultural specificity was analyzed (N=161). (6) The color knowledge quantity and quality of Russian design students (N=187) were evaluated using the method proposed by J. Jensens and B. Mikellides; the obtained parameters were compared with the corresponding indicators of foreign students (N=448). The following scientific results were obtained. First, the analysis of significant data sets on the electrical activity of brain areas associated with the processing of color information and categorical response to color stimuli showed that the color categorical perception occurred in the early stages of chromatic processing and was not associated with top-down modulation of post-perceptual processes (in particular, attention). Second, the study confirmed the hypothesis that changes in the conditions of color stimulation correlated with physiological responses to color (heart rate, electrical conductivity of the skin, pupil diameter, blink frequency, dynamics of gaze directions), and its consequences differed from the effects of color-object associations (font, background, scenes of images). The discovered effects are associated not only with hue, but also with other color characteristics, primarily with lightness and saturation. According to the results of cluster analysis, physiological reactions are most similar for light warm colors (peach, white, pink, blue, light green, light green, beige); dark colors (black, dark green, dark purple); saturated stimuli from the warm part of the color spectrum (blue, yellow, green, orange, violet, fuchsia, turquoise, crimson); light purple colors (mauve and lilac); red and gray-green colors (gray, red, brown, burgundy, marsh, mustard, dark blue). Third, the analysis in the CIELAB color space of the responses from online experiment participants (N=599), who came from eight different countries (Algeria, Belarus, Italy, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Chile), showed that cross-cultural differences in strategies for constructing harmonious color combinations could have environmental motivation. Under the influence of existing natural color schemes, representatives of different cultures develop different sensitivity to individual colors. Their color habits largely predetermine the positive or negative perception of certain shades, forcing them to react negatively to colors that differ from their usual ones, and to use the colors of well-known materials and natural objects in the design of the environment. Forth, the experiments with the simultaneous use of virtual reality technologies, devices for recording galvanic skin reactions, electrical activity of the brain and oculomotor activity, made it possible to compare the psychophysiological correlates of conscious and unconscious information processing in various color environment conditions, confirmed that cognitive processes were influenced not only by color–object associations, but also by color involved in non-image-forming aspects of vision. Fifth, the comparison of the color vision testing results in participants of an empirical study who recovered from Covid-19 coronavirus infection (N=77) and people who were not ill with different socio-demographic features using the standard Farnsworth-Munsell 100-Hue Test (FM-100) showed that about half of those who recovered from COVID-19 had mild acquired III type color deficiency, typical for retinal and vascular diseases. The findings suggested that coronavirus infection might cause hypoperfusion (decreased vascular supply) in the retina and/or postretinal parts of the visual system and, thus, affect the neural mechanisms of color discrimination. Sixth, the assessment of age differences in color–emotion associations among Russians of different ages (N=161) and the analysis of their cross-cultural specificity showed that different age groups demonstrated similar patterns of color–emotion associations (average similarity coefficient 0.97). At the same time, subtle but significant age differences were observed: young representatives of different cultures associated the greatest number but the least positively biased emotions with colors; older participants associated a smaller number but more intense and more positive emotions with all colors. Seventh, the color literacy study of Russian students using the method proposed by J. Jensens and B. Mikellides (N=187) showed that they had a fairly high index of color knowledge. The value of the index of general color knowledge was almost the same for first- and last-year students. The lower index of knowledge about color vision of older people among students starting their education compared to graduates correlated with differences in the choice of color knowledge sources. Senior students experienced an increase in interest in evidence-based design and a change in the target setting to use classical color theory in combination with proven empirical data in the development of design solutions, which reflected the anthropological turn of modern design and urbanism in general. Eighth, he results of the study were published in 15 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals (Arts, Russian Psychological Journal, Project Baikal, Scientific Dialogue, Perspectives for Science and Education, Society. Environment. Development, Pedagogy and Education, Herald of Culturology). The results of the project were presented in 14 reports at 9 international scientific conferences, including the 44th European Conference on Visual Perception (Paphos, Cyprus, August 27–31, 2023), the Scientific Conference of the International Color Association (AIC 2023) in Chiang Rai (Thailand, November 28 – December 2, 2023).

 

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