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.本研究从心理学与实证双重视角，分析了纳曼干市（Namangan）在校学生（总样本量N=60）的颜色联想感知随年龄变化的特征。研究采用色词联想测试（color-word association test），对三组不同年龄段的学生开展测试：学龄初期（7~10岁，n=20）、学龄中期（11~14岁，n=20）以及高年级学生（15~17岁，n=20）。每名参与者需针对12种基础色卡样本完成5项自由联想任务，最终共获得3600条有效应答。所有应答由两名独立专家采用内容分析（content analysis）法进行编码，科恩κ系数（Cohen’s κ）为0.79。联想内容被划分为具象、抽象与情感三类。研究采用描述性统计与曼-惠特尼U检验（Mann–Whitney U-test）分析组间差异。结果表明，颜色联想思维随年龄增长，呈现出从具象化向抽象个性化层面转变的趋势。本研究作为硕士论文框架下的先导性实证调查开展，其研究结论仅适用于纳曼干市在校学生群体。