Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of Color Terms on Color Perception and Cognition

Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology

Synonyms

Categorical perception; Linguistic influences on color perception; Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

Definition

The possibility that naming colors, either in a single instance or habitually over a lifetime, alters color perception.

Color Perception and Color Communication

When we communicate about the colors of scenes and objects comprising our visual experience, what we see informs our choice of words. A question that has interested many cognitive psychologists is whether the color words we use affect how we see. One view is that naming is for communication and has no effect on how we see or experience the world. In this view, color appearance, and therefore performance on tasks which strictly depend on color appearance, is determined entirely by the visual system and not at all by the language that one speaks. Color vision is informationally encapsulated, its output is automatically produced, and while its output is available for cognitive processes like decision making and speaking,...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Pylyshyn, Z.: Is vision continuous with cognition? The case for cognitive impenetrability of visual perception. Behav. Brain Sci. 22(3), 341–365 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Whorf, B.L.: Language, Thought and Reality. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA (1956)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Harnad, S. (ed.): Categorical Perception: the Groundwork of Cognition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1987)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Bornstein, M.H., Korda, N.O.: Discrimination and matching within and between hues measured by reaction times: some implications for categorical perception and levels of information processing. Psychol. Res. 46(3), 207–222 (1984)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Kuhl, P.K.: Early language acquisition: cracking the speech code. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 5(11), 831–843 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. The World Color Survey. http://www1.icsi.berkeley.edu/wcs/

  7. Brown, A.M., Lindsey, D.T., Guckes, K.M.: Color names, color categories, and color-cued visual search: sometimes, color perception is not categorical. J. Vis. 11(12), 1–21 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Davidoff, J., Davies, I., Roberson, D.: Colour categories in a stone-age tribe. Nature. 402(6724), 604–604 (1999)

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Kay, P., Regier, T., Gilbert, A., Ivry, R.B.: Lateralized Whorf: language influences perceptual decision in the right visual field. In: Minett, J., Wang, W. (eds.) Language, Evolution, and the Brain, pp. 261–284. The City University of Hong Kong Press, Hong Kong (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Witzel, C., Gegenfurtner, K.R.: Is there a lateralized category effect for color? J. Vis. 11(12), 1–25 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Kay, P., Kempton, W.M.: What is the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis? Am. Anthropol. 86, 65–79 (1984)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Webster, M.A., Kay, P.: Color categories and color appearance. Cognition. 122, 375–392 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Roberson, D., Davidoff, J.: The categorical perception of colors and facial expressions: the effect of verbal interference. Mem. Cogn. 28, 977–986 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Witzel, C., Gegenfurtner, K.R.: Categorical facilitation with equally discriminable colors. J. Vis. 15, 1–33 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Roberson, D., Hanley, J.R., Pak, H.: Thresholds for color discrimination in English and Korean speakers. Cognition. 112, 482–487 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Jonathan Winawer & Nathan Witthoft

  2. Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Nathan Witthoft

Authors
  1. Jonathan Winawer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nathan Witthoft
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jonathan Winawer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Color Science & Imaging Lab, North Carolina State Univ, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Renzo Shamey

Section Editor information

  1. Faculty of Engineering Sciences, University College London, London, Please select, UK

    Lindsay MacDonald

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Science+Business Media LLC

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Winawer, J., Witthoft, N. (2020). Effects of Color Terms on Color Perception and Cognition. In: Shamey, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_77-5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_77-5

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-27851-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27851-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Effects of Color Terms on Color Perception and Cognition
    Published:
    12 May 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_77-5

  2. Original

    Effect of Color Terms on Color Perception
    Published:
    29 September 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_77-4

Search

Navigation