New paper “Color semantics in human cognition,” was published in Current Directions in Psychological Science.
AUthor: Karen B. Schloss
People have associations between colors and concepts that influence the way they interpret color meaning in information visualizations (e.g., charts, maps, diagrams). These associations are not limited to concrete objects (e.g., fruits, vegetables); even abstract concepts, like sleeping and driving, have systematic color-concept associations. However, color-concept associations and color meaning (color semantics) are not the same thing, and sometimes they conflict. This article describes an approach to understanding color semantics called the color inference framework. The framework shows how color semantics is highly flexible and context dependent, which makes color an effective medium for communication.
Reference: Schloss, K. B. (2024). Color semantics in human cognition. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 33, 1, 58-67. PDF