AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN COLOR-ASSOCIATIVE PERCEPTION AMONG SCHOOL STUDENTS

This article analyzes the age-related changes in color-associative perception among school students in Namangan city (N=60) from both psychological and empirical perspectives. The color-word association test was applied across three age groups: early school age (7–10 years, n=20), middle school age (11–14 years, n=20), and upper-grade students (15–17 years, n=20). Each participant provided five free associations for 12 basic color samples, yielding a total of 3,600 responses. These responses were coded by two independent experts using content analysis (Cohen’s κ = 0.79). Associations were classified into three categories: concrete, abstract, and emotional. Descriptive statistics and the Mann–Whitney U-test were used to identify differences between groups. The results demonstrate a shift in color-associative thinking from concreteness to an abstract-individualized level as a function of age. This study was conducted as a pilot empirical investigation within the framework of a master’s thesis; the findings should be interpreted as specific to school students in Namangan city.