Learning color words involves learning a system of mappings.

Abstract

This research examines the difficulty children encounter when acquiring 2 specific sets of adjectives, color and size words, and suggests that children must acquire a system of mapping in learning these words. Children were assessed on 4 types of mappings (word-word maps, property-property maps, word-property maps, and word-word-property maps) by completing 3 color tasks. Children also participated in comparable tasks for size words. In Study 1, 13 two-year-olds were followed longitudinally at 3-week intervals. In Study 2, 56 two-year-olds participated in a cross-sectional replication. The results indicate that children acquire color maps in a characteristic order. Children demonstrated a different pattern of acquisition for size words. The results suggest that learning word associations may promote color word acquisition and that learning color words may promote selective attention to color.

The Development of Color Categories in Two Languages: A Longitudinal Study.

“…Previous studies with English speaking children (Andrick & Tager-Flusberg, 1986;Sandhoffer & Smith, 1999) found considerable discrepancy between children's productive naming of color stimuli and their comprehension of color terms. It could be that productive naming is a more difficult task, since the number of available responses is potentially infinite.…”

“…Thus, given the evidence that primary categories appear to be in place at 4 months of age (Bornstein, Kessen & Weiskopf, 1976), the relatively late acquisition of color terms has puzzled many researchers. Bornstein (1985) found that three-year-old children were slow to learn paired associates to colors relative to abstract shapes, and Sandhoffer and Smith (1999) found that young children were both slower to comprehend color terms than size terms and to match items on the basis of color (but see Pitchford & Mullen, 2001). …”

Partial Color Word Comprehension Precedes Production

“…Color words pose a difficult problem for children learning language (Backscheider & Shatz, 1993;Sandhofer & Smith, 1999;Kowalski & Zimiles, 2006;O'Hanlon and Roberson, 2006). As noted in a number of previous reports, children produce color words in a seemingly haphazard manner for many months before converging on adult-like meanings (Pitchford & Mullen, 2003;Sandhofer & Smith, 1999;Soja, 1994), a pattern that has also been reported in abstract domains of word learning, such as time, emotion and number (Brooks, Audet, & Barner, 2012;Busby Grant & Suddendorf, 2011;Shatz, Tare, Nguyen, & Young, 2010;Wynn, 1992;Widen & Russell, 2003).…”

“…As noted in a number of previous reports, children produce color words in a seemingly haphazard manner for many months before converging on adult-like meanings (Pitchford & Mullen, 2003;Sandhofer & Smith, 1999;Soja, 1994), a pattern that has also been reported in abstract domains of word learning, such as time, emotion and number (Brooks, Audet, & Barner, 2012;Busby Grant & Suddendorf, 2011;Shatz, Tare, Nguyen, & Young, 2010;Wynn, 1992;Widen & Russell, 2003). In the case of color words, many previous studies have argued that this delay between production and adult-like comprehension is due to children's difficulty identifying color as the relevant domain of linguistic meaning.…”

“…In the case of color words, many previous studies have argued that this delay between production and adult-like comprehension is due to children's difficulty identifying color as the relevant domain of linguistic meaning. Consequently, these accounts propose that children initially produce color words (e.g., red, green, blue) without yet knowing whether they refer to shape, color, texture or some other property (Franklin, 2006;Kowalksi & Zimiles, 2006; O'Hanlon & Roberson, 2006;Sandhofer & Smith, 1999). The present study challenges this conclusion and shows that although children master adult like meanings of color words many months after they begin producing them, they acquire partial meanings far earlier, often before the onset of production.…”