Effect of Color on Developmental Picture-Vocabulary Naming of 4-, 6-, and 8-Year-Old Children

Abstract

This study examined the effect of color on the naming process in children for pictures of increasing vocabulary difficulty levels. Picture-naming reaction times and accuracy rates were measured for both black and white line drawings and color drawings in 30 normally developing children, ages 4, 6, and 8 years, via a tachistoscopic viewing paradigm. Statistical analysis of reaction time data revealed that color affected speed of naming only when the vocabulary level of the picture was within the developmental range of the child. That is, for vocabulary within an emerging period for the child, colored drawings were named significantly faster than black and white line drawings. However, color did not significantly influence speed of naming for pictures either for vocabulary well established in the child’s lexicon or for vocabulary above the child’s developmental age. Statistical analysis of accuracy data revealed significant color by vocabulary interactions. Specifically, when the vocabulary level of the pictures exceeded chronological age level, children named color drawings with significantly higher accuracy rates than black and white line drawings.