No effect of Italian blues on color discrimination

The present study contributes to research on the effects of color terminology on perceptual tasks. More specifically, we report the results of a color discrimination study testing a possible effect of multiple basic color terms (BCTs) for the blue color spectrum in Italian. To that end, the performance of speakers of Italian is contrasted with the performance of speakers of English, as these languages differ with regard to their basic color vocabulary. Unlike English, Italian is assumed to have two basic color terms for the blue color spectrum, dividing it along the lightness dimension. The results are discussed in context with results for Russian speakers from previous research. The results obtained by the present study do not provide evidence for an effect in Italian. This null-effect supports a view of weak effects of color terminology on discrimination tasks. We also discuss whether the complexcolor terminology for blues in Italian with divergent findings for basic color terms for the blue color space may be an additional factor in explaining the results.