The color communication game: how categorical understanding of colors can be shown without considering color naming data

There is clear diversity among speakers of a typical language in how
colors are named. What is the impact of this diversity on people’s ability
to communicate about color? Is there a gap between a person’s general
understanding of color terms in their native language and how they use a
particular term to denote a particular color sample? Seventy
English-speaking dyads and 63 Somali-speaking dyads played the Color
Communication Game, where the “sender” in each dyad named 30 color samples
as they would in any color-naming study, then the “receiver” chose the
sample they thought the sender intended to communicate. English speakers
played again, under instructions to intentionally communicate color sample
identity. Interpersonal Mutual Information (MI) calculated from color
naming data was variable and below optimal, and English-speaking dyads’ MI
did not improve with experience. Although Somali-speaking senders provided
fewer color terms, both groups revealed a superior understanding of color
terms because they showed better exactly correct selection performance as
receivers than was predicted by simulation from their dyads’ color-naming
data. Direct comparison of senders’ samples and receivers’ choices
revealed a categorical understanding of colors without considering color
naming data. This study highlights limitations on information-theoretic
analyses of color naming data.