Bornstein’s paradox (redux)
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Don Dedrick
Abstract
The psychologist Marc Bornstein suggested it was surprising that (a) non-linguistic infants demonstrated categorical perception of colour and (b) such categorical perception did not facilitate the learning of colour names (Bornstein 1985). This is “Bornstein’s paradox” and it has been articulated by a number of researchers since 1985. The purpose of this paper is to argue that there is in fact no paradox. Susan Carey’s idea of “core cognition” is extended to colour categorization and it is argued that, if colour is a domain of core cognition, the development from initial infant colour experience need not be continuous with linguistic experience (Carey 2009). This argument makes reference to Carey’s work on object permanence, and number as analogous to colour naming.
Abstract
The psychologist Marc Bornstein suggested it was surprising that (a) non-linguistic infants demonstrated categorical perception of colour and (b) such categorical perception did not facilitate the learning of colour names (Bornstein 1985). This is “Bornstein’s paradox” and it has been articulated by a number of researchers since 1985. The purpose of this paper is to argue that there is in fact no paradox. Susan Carey’s idea of “core cognition” is extended to colour categorization and it is argued that, if colour is a domain of core cognition, the development from initial infant colour experience need not be continuous with linguistic experience (Carey 2009). This argument makes reference to Carey’s work on object permanence, and number as analogous to colour naming.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface ix
- Acknowledgements x
- Abbreviations xi
-
Prehistoric colour semantics
- Prehistoric colour semantics 3
-
Colour and Linguistics
- Preface to Section II 29
- Towards a historical and cultural atlas of colour terms in the Near East 31
- The evolution of GRUE 53
- Linguistic categorization of BLUE in Standard Italian 67
- From blood to worms 79
- The motivational analysis of some Finnic colour terms 93
- Her blue eyes are red 109
- The spread of RED in the Historical Thesaurus of English 126
- A metaphorical spectrum 140
- Exploring the metaphorical use of colour with the Historical Thesaurus of English 153
-
Colour categorization, naming and preference
- Preface to Section III 167
- The case for infant colour categories 169
- Bornstein’s paradox (redux) 181
- Category effects on colour discrimination 200
- Colour category effects 212
- Gender differences in colour naming 225
- Personality and gender-schemata contributions to colour preferences 240
- Axiological aspects of Polish colour vocabulary 258
- The metaphysical significance of colour categorization 273
-
Colour and the World
- Preface to Section IV 287
- Color seeing and speaking 291
- Colour terms in the names of coastal and inland features 307
- Referential meaning in basic and non-basic color terms 323
- Unfolding colour in mind and language 339
- Synaesthetic associations 352
- Bach to the blues 366
- “Miss Gartside’s immediate eye” 380
- Lighting up Shakespeare 397
- Index 413
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface ix
- Acknowledgements x
- Abbreviations xi
-
Prehistoric colour semantics
- Prehistoric colour semantics 3
-
Colour and Linguistics
- Preface to Section II 29
- Towards a historical and cultural atlas of colour terms in the Near East 31
- The evolution of GRUE 53
- Linguistic categorization of BLUE in Standard Italian 67
- From blood to worms 79
- The motivational analysis of some Finnic colour terms 93
- Her blue eyes are red 109
- The spread of RED in the Historical Thesaurus of English 126
- A metaphorical spectrum 140
- Exploring the metaphorical use of colour with the Historical Thesaurus of English 153
-
Colour categorization, naming and preference
- Preface to Section III 167
- The case for infant colour categories 169
- Bornstein’s paradox (redux) 181
- Category effects on colour discrimination 200
- Colour category effects 212
- Gender differences in colour naming 225
- Personality and gender-schemata contributions to colour preferences 240
- Axiological aspects of Polish colour vocabulary 258
- The metaphysical significance of colour categorization 273
-
Colour and the World
- Preface to Section IV 287
- Color seeing and speaking 291
- Colour terms in the names of coastal and inland features 307
- Referential meaning in basic and non-basic color terms 323
- Unfolding colour in mind and language 339
- Synaesthetic associations 352
- Bach to the blues 366
- “Miss Gartside’s immediate eye” 380
- Lighting up Shakespeare 397
- Index 413
