8 Harry K. Wolfe, 



certainty in the first two naturally followed. Yellow was 

 easily mastered and soon was more surely named than the 

 others. As new colors were added, association became more 

 difficult. The development of the child's mind as shown in 

 mastering these associations was remarkably rapid. 



Until the thirty-fourth month the colors used and the per 

 cent of correct answers were as follows : yellow 96.7, brown 

 90.8, red ^6.J, violet 85.3, black 84.8, pink 72.4, orange 67.1, 

 gray 51.5, green 45, blue 28.8. Preyer evidently believes 

 from the above results and from other observations that 

 green and blue are not as early distinguished as yellow and 

 red. The accuracy with which violet was named would seem 

 to render this conclusion doubtful. 



The child had practice first in red and green, and then in 

 the other colors in the following order : yellow, blue, violet, 

 gray, brown, pink, black, orange. If we consider this fact, 

 it will change to some degree the apparent relative ease in 

 associating the name with the color. It is evident that after 

 the child has had practice with certain color-words, it will be 

 much better fitted to take up new ones. Had green and 

 blue been introduced later, they would probably have occu- 

 pied a higher relative rank. On the other hand, if yellow 

 and red had first been used later, they would have occupied 

 a still higher position in the scale. The other colors would 

 evidently have fallen into a lower relative position had they 

 been introduced earlier. It must be added that many of the 

 later experiments were conducted in a different manner from 

 the earlier ones. At first the child was required to select 

 the color called for by the father. Later, the child both 

 selected and named the colors. Blue was the hardest to dis- 

 tinguish. In the twilight it was often called gray when its 

 true nature was quite apparent to adults. Preyer's observa- 

 tions prove conclusively that it is possible for children two or 

 three years old not merely to distinguish colors, but to apply 

 to them their proper designations. It is probable that ordi- 

 narily children do not learn so early to associate colors and 

 their names, though Preyer intimates that at three or four 



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