Does banana spontaneously activate yellow color? Color-related concepts help with color discrimination

Color is a critical part of objects representation as well as critical cue for recognizing objects. However, it is less clear how people represent color in memory. The present study aimed at investigating this issue. We designed a procedure based on short-term sensory memory load procedure mixed with a color-priming paradigm. Participants learned three visual stimuli (either non-words – lexical load condition or visual-shapes – visual-shape load condition). Then, they performed a color discrimination task on colored patch (e.g., a yellow patch). Each target was preceded by a color-related concept word either congruent (e.g., word “banana”) or not (e.g., word “lettuce”). Finally, they performed a recognition task either on non-words or on visual-shapes depending on the memory load condition). We showed that color-priming effect was selectively disrupted in visual-shape load condition. We interpreted this finding as an evidence that automatic modal simulations occur during access to the meaning of color-related concept.