Learning color words involves learning a system of mappings.
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.
Sandhofer
C M
CM
Department of Psychology, Indiana University Bloomington 47405, USA. csandhof@indiana.edu
Smith
L B
LB
D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012660:Semantics; D014706:Verbal Learning; D014825:Vocabulary