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2019 violette thesis.pdf (5.16 MB)

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Evolutionary Order of Basic Color Term Acquisition Not Recapitulated by English or Somali Observers in Non-Lexical Hierarchical Sorting Task

Violette, Aimee Noelle
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1545342701702227

Abstract Details

2019, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Vision Science.
The connection between language and color has long been examined through studies of color naming. It is well-established that speakers of different languages have different numbers of basic color terms and that additional color terms are acquired in a predictable order. Berlin & Kay (1969) argued that color lexicons evolve over time, and that much of the diversity observed in the color lexicons languages of pre-industrial cultures occurs because these languages are at different stages of a highly constrained evolutionary sequence. The present study tests and extends a study by Boster (1986), who employed a non-lexical binary sorting task, in which English speakers sequentially divided a palette of 8 colors into 2, 3, …, 7, 8 piles. Boster claimed that the resulting progression of color sorting patterns mimicked the patterns of color term evolution proposed by Kay and McDaniel (1978). This claim suggests that this particular non-lexical representation of color in humans guides color term evolution and that this representation can be examined by color sorting. The purpose of the experiments described in this thesis was to test Boster’s claims. In Study I, I re-analyzed Boster’s results, and found that, while general trends in the data were consistent with his hypothesis, no individual subject followed the expected order of color sorting. In Study II, English-speaking subjects sorted a palette of 30 simulated Munsell color samples on an iPad that were far more diverse in terms of hue, saturation and lightness than the one used by Boster. Study III repeated the iPad sorting task using a palette of test colors consisting of 25 chromatic samples that spanned the color circle but were similar in saturation and lightness. Study III also explored cross-cultural differences in the mental representation of color by comparing color sorting in English- and Somali-speaking subjects. The results of Experiments II and III revealed that subjects did not create successive color categories that closely follow patterns of color term evolution proposed by Kay and McDaniel (1978), although there were common and principled patterns which individuals did follow. There was variation in the strategies adapted by same-language subjects and differences across languages. Differences in sorting strategies were present between sample color sets, suggesting task dependency. The results of my research do not support Boster’s view that color sorting taps a mental representation that guides the evolution of basic color categories that was described by Kay & McDaniel.
Delwin Lindsey (Advisor)
Angela Brown (Committee Member)
Andrew Hartwick (Committee Member)
123 p.
Psychology
color sorting; universalism; color term evolution

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Violette, A. N. (2019). Evolutionary Order of Basic Color Term Acquisition Not Recapitulated by English or Somali Observers in Non-Lexical Hierarchical Sorting Task [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1545342701702227

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Violette, Aimee. Evolutionary Order of Basic Color Term Acquisition Not Recapitulated by English or Somali Observers in Non-Lexical Hierarchical Sorting Task . 2019. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1545342701702227.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Violette, Aimee. "Evolutionary Order of Basic Color Term Acquisition Not Recapitulated by English or Somali Observers in Non-Lexical Hierarchical Sorting Task ." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1545342701702227

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1545342701702227
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.