Semantic and Perceptual Representations of Color: Evidence of a Shared Color-Naming Function

Abstract

Much research on color representation and categorization has assumed that relations among color terms can be proxies for relations among color percepts. We test this assumption by comparing the mapping of color words with color appearances among different observer groups performing cognitive tasks: (1) an invariance of naming task; and (2) triad similarity judgments of color term and color appearance stimuli within and across color categories. Observer subgroups were defined by perceptual phenotype and photopigment opsin genotype analyses. Results suggest that individuals rely on at least two different representational models of color experience: one lexical, conforming to the culture's normative linguistic representation, and another individual perceptual representation organizing each observer's color sensation experiences. Additional observer subgroup analyses suggest that perceptual phenotype variation within a language group may play a greater role in the shared color naming system than previously thought. A reexamination of color naming data in view of these findings may reveal influences on color naming important to current theories.

Re-assessing perceptual diagnostics for observers with diverse retinal photopigment genotypes

“…The problem with this explanation, however, is that it does not agree with patterns of results found in Figure 3 which illustrate how the F-M 100 dissimilarity scaling systematically tracks variation in chromatic banding results found using the Jameson et al (2001) task, nor does it accord with the systematic tendencies in the angular and radial compression parameters shown in Figure 2. Finally, recent independent results by Sayim, Jameson, Alvarado and Szeszel (2005) suggest that female heterozygotes show significant differences in cognitive color processing in ways that accord with the results presented here.…”

Evolutionary models of color categorization I Population categorization systems based on normal and dichromat observers

“…We simulate both normal and deficient observer groups using human data. "Normal" agents include those modeled on normal trichromat FM100 performance data, with trichromacy confirmed by pseudoisochromatic plate assessment [25]. "Deficient" agents are modeled using protanope and deuteranope performances from an FM100 diagnostic database [26].…”

Investigating Potential Human Tetrachromacy in Individuals with Tetrachromat Genotypes Using Multispectral Techniques

“…As shown in previous photopigment opsin genotyping research molecular genetics research has determined that genotypes involving more than three normal photopigment opsin variants are not uncommon, [3,4,12,13,18,25] and it is thought that mechanisms governing expression of such photopigment opsin genes does not rule out the possibility that an individual will express more than three classes of retinal photopigments. The aim of much of the research into potential human tetrachromacy has been to discover (a) how the possession of extra photopigment opsin genes may alter perceptual processing of color, and (b) what the X-chromosome linked features of the L-cone and M-cone opsin genes implies for potential human tetrachromacy and gender-linked color vision processing di↵erences.…”