DEVELOPMENT OF COLOUR VLSION IN THE CHILD 153 



Baldwin's method consisted in placing small squares of coloured 

 blotting paper upon a rod within reach of the child, one at a time, 

 and recording for each colour the ratio of the number of times the piece 

 was seized to the total number of presentations of that colour. He found 

 that "the colours range themselves in an order of attractiveness, i.e., blue, 

 red, white, green, and brown " and that pieces of newspaper were as 

 attractive as any of the colours and even more so. The ratios of 

 acceptances to presentations of the colours were : blue 0"766, red 0'714:, 

 white 0'636, green 0'6, brown 0"5. McDougall points out that the 

 number of experiments with white was only eleven, and though the 

 figures would perhaps suggest some colour appreciation if the experi- 

 ments had been more numerous they hardly can be claimed, as they 

 stand, as evidence in that direction. 



Marsden employed Baldwin's method and obtained similar results. 

 In 175 presentations the acceptances were : newspaper 130, yellow 127, 

 red 122, blue 121, white 113, grey 114, black 114, brown 107. It is to 

 be noted that as white, grey, and black were taken ^\\i\\ almost the 

 same frequency, brightness appears to have no influence ; yet of the 

 colours yellow was taken most often and brown least. McDougall 

 considers that the results obtained by Baldwin and Marsden " cannot 

 be held to show that colour vision was present, or to throw any light 

 on the state or on development of the colour sense " in the subjects. 



McDousall's method was a modification of Baldwin's. It consists 

 essentiallv in presenting two similar objects of different colours simul- 

 taneously, and recording the number of acceptances of each. For the 

 first child coloured flowers were used, and later balls of worsted 1 inch 

 in diameter and pieces of crinkled paper of low and high saturation. 

 With flowers the results during the twenty-first and twenty-second 

 weeks were : during the first two days red was taken 19 times, white 

 9 times : later, red 82 to white 33 ; blue 17 to white 13. With worsted 

 and paper between the twenty-third and twenty-ninth weeks the results 

 were : 



R_B R— G B— G R— W G— W B— W R— Grey G— Gy B— Gy W— Gy 

 30—26 32—16 32—31 36—21 35—15 32—22 30—4 25—7 24—5 38—15 



An improved method was used for another child. The objects presented 

 in pairs to this child were balls about 1 inch in diameter, each consisting 

 of a pill box containing a pea and embedded in a loose sheath of knitted 

 wool. The woollen thread was prolonged to form a plaited cord about 

 three inches in length. The balls were red, green, blue, yellow, white 



