. Some color associations may
emerge from learning alone, but color theorists suspect that
many such associations emerge from evolutionarily ingrained
responses to color stimuli (Mollon, 1989). Research indicates
that colors often serve a signal function for nonhuman animals
(e.g., the redness of fruit signals readiness for eating), thereby
facilitating fitness-relevant behavior (Hutchings, 1997). If, as we
suspect, humans are ‘‘prepared’’ to respond to color stimuli in a
similar fashion, then at least some color associations may represent
a cognitive reinforcing or shaping of biologically based
response tendencies. Third, the mere perception of color evokes
evaluative processes. Color computations occur at an early level
within the visual system, and evaluative processes are so fundamental
that they are present, at least in rudimentary form, in
all animate life (Schneirla, 1959). By ‘‘evaluative processes’’ we
mean basic mechanisms that discern whether a stimulus is hostile or hospitable (Elliot & Covington, 2001).