Color categorization in childhood (0-7 years): review of current research
The study of color categorization in children is of great interest to researchers from various fields of science and represents certain potential of an applied nature. However, this issue is considered mostly by cognitive linguistics, neuropsychology, pedagogy, and cultural studies.
To assess current trends in the study of color categorization in preschool age, empirical studies were selected and further divided, depending on the age of the informants, into three groups: color categorization in infancy (0-1), early childhood (1-3) and preschool age (3-7). For each group, the cognitive and linguistic features associated with the processes of categorization and conceptualization were described, the methodology and its variability were analyzed, the sets of color stimuli used in the studies were considered, the main results of the selected studies were indicated in accordance with the periodization of childhood.
The formation of color categories in childhood is important from the point of view of understanding the cognitive abilities of a child, their perception of the world. The knowledge of color categorization peculiarities in children may be applied to achieve such purposes as improving cognitive organization, increasing the development of semantic memory and attention, and elaborating some new teaching methods.
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