Constraints on children’s color term acquisition

Kowalski and Zimiles (2006) and O’Hanlon and Roberson (2006) address an age-old question: Why do children find it difficult to learn color terms? Here these articles are reflected on, providing a focused examination of the issues central to this question. First, the criteria by which children are said to find color naming difficult are considered. Although the age of color term acquisition is decreasing, and color naming might not be more difficult than other abstract attributes, several stages of difficulty are identified. Second, it is argued that there are potentially multiple constraints (e.g., conceptual, attentional, and linguistic) for these multiple stages of difficulty with color term acquisition. Third, it is argued that the validity and reliability of techniques for identifying constraints need to be considered and that converging evidence for the constraints should be provided. Finally, a series of new questions that need to be asked to provide a well-rounded explanation of the difficulties children face when learning color terms is outlined.