The effects of luminance contrast and color combination on icon cognitive performance

Abstract

AbstractThis study explored and identified the effects of luminance contrast and color combinations on icon cognitive performance. A total of 50 participants took part in the experiment. As designed, icon cognitive performance was measured as a function of the following independent variables: 4 levels of luminance contrast, 16 target/background color combinations. Experiment A showed that a luminance contrast of 18:1 provide participants with the highest cognitive performance. Yellow on black, yellow on blue, and white on blue were the three most legible color combinations. To explore the individual effects of luminance contrast and color combination on cognitive performance, in experiment B, the material was decolored. Comparing the reaction time data of experiment A with experiment B, it was found that both luminance contrast and color combination can significantly affect cognitive performance. Under the same luminance contrast, yellow on black, yellow on blue, and white on blue significantly improve the search speed, while green on red, yellow on purple, green on blue, and turquoise on blue significantly slow down the search speed. In experiment C, event related potential technology was used to verify the results of behavioral experiment B. It was found that under 18:1 high luminance contrast visual stimulation, the activation of prefrontal and occipital regions was stronger, and the peak and average amplitude of P100 curve were significantly higher than the other three luminance contrasts. To explain why some color combinations shorten reaction time, in experiment D, peak latency of P100 at visual‐cortex area (O1, O2, OZ) showed significantly faster response time with fast search speed color combinations than with slow search speed color combinations. These results provide some guidance for human–software interface design.