Mathematics Graduate Student Colloquium

MGSC Website: http://math.uci.edu/~mgsc/

Methods for defining color categories

Nikki Fider
Monday, November 23, 2015
4:00 pm - 4:50 pm
RH 340N

Talk Abstract:

In the fields of psychology and linguistics, it is understood that speakers from a common linguistic background agree to use certain basic color words to divide the color space--for example, we agree to use "red" and not "sanguine". The study of how distinct cultures categorize the color space offers insight into human perception and communication. This talk outlines mathematical methods which aim to separate basic color words from non-basic color words. Furthermore, we provide a way to identify which regions of the color space correspond to each basic color word. The analysis and examples we provide will be based on data provided by the World Color Survey, which has color identification data from 110 (mostly non-industrialized) cultures.

About the Speaker:

Nikki is a 4th year graduate student working under Dr. Natalia Komarova. Nikki has an awesome dog named Harley who keeps her company while she does her research and school work, even though Harley can be very distracting sometimes. They enjoy fine dining (In-n-Out!), long walks on the dog beach (no leashes!), and the the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth!).

Refreshments:

Pizza will be served after the talk.