Exploring the Cost Function in Color Perception and Memory: An Information-Theoretic Model of Categorical Effects in Color Matching

Recent evidence indicates that color categories can exert a strong influence over color matching in both perception and memory. We explore this phenomenon by analyzing the cost function for perceptual error. Our analysis is developed within the mathematical framework of rate–distortion theory. According to our approach, the goal of perception is to minimize the expected cost of error while subject to a strong constraint on the capacity of perceptual processing. We propose that the cost function in color perception is defined by the sum of two components: a metric cost associated with the magnitude of error in color space, and a cost associated with perceptual errors that cross color category boundaries. A computational model embodying this assumption is shown to produce an excellent fit to empirical data. The results generally suggest that what appear as ‘errors’ in working memory performance may reflect reasonable and systematic behaviors in the context of costs.