Salient features of Munsell colour space as a function of monolexemic naming and response latencies.

Abstract

This study provides a replication of Boynton and Olson's (1990) work (Vision Research, 30, pp. 1311-1317), but using a more extensive model of colour space--Munsell as distinct from OSA-UCS. It involved 20 subjects in a total of 17,840 observations of 446 colours, in which monolexemic naming and response times were recorded. The results clearly differentiate between basic and non,basic colour categories using measures of consistency, consensus and response time. While the results are equivocal in distinguishing between the so-called "landmark" and "other basic colours", they are unequivocal in confirming the salience of the eleven basic colour categories initially proposed by Berlin and Kay [(1969) Basic colour terms: their universality and evolution, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press], and, in so doing, reinforce their perceptual significance and probable physiological basis. The results also reveal differences in non-basic colour naming that further confirm the special status of the basic colour categories and their role in categorical colour perception.