Categorical color perception: Influence of cultural factors on the differentiation of primary and derived basic color terms in color naming by Japanese children

Abstract

Color naming tests with Japanese children (age 12–15) in Yonezawa, Tokyo and Düsseldorf (Germany) demonstrate that the primary basic color terms based on Hering's opponent color scheme are not influenced by the increasing Western cultural influence from Yonezawa to Tokyo and to Düsseldorf. The derived color terms for brown, orange and pink hues do appear to be influenced, however. The results support and extend the findings of Uchikawa and Boynton (1987). They verify the hypothesis that the psycholinguistics of color naming are based on a universal neurobiology of human color vision.