Color and Spatial Cue Modulation of Emotional Word Processing: Evidence from ERPs

Emotional word processing is shaped by lexical meaning and concurrent perceptual context. This study investigated when red and green color cues and symbolic upward and downward direction cues modulate the processing of positive and negative Chinese emotional words. Thirty-four native Chinese speakers were recruited, and 27 remained in the final ERP sample after behavioral and EEG-quality exclusions. The experiment used a 2 (color: red vs. green) × 2 (direction: up vs. down) × 2 (word valence: positive vs. negative) within-subject design. Positive words elicited larger P1 amplitudes, and negative words elicited more negative-going N1 and N400 amplitudes. A significant Color × Valence interaction emerged in the late positive complex (LPC) window. The positive-minus-negative LPC difference was descriptively larger under green cues than under red cues, and neither within-color comparison reached significance after Bonferroni correction. Interactions involving spatial direction were not significant across the four components. These findings trace emotional word processing from early valence-sensitive visual attention through semantic processing to late color-dependent evaluation. The temporal pattern supports a context-sensitive account in which perceptual cues, lexical valence, and learned cultural associations contribute to emotional meaning at different processing stages.