| Abstract: | Two experiments were conducted to demonstrate that human infants 3 months of age perceive color in a normal, trichromatic manner. In the first experiment, the visual attention of 30 infants was monitored in a habituation-dishabituation paradigm that used spectral and white lights with brightness factors eliminated. Infants discriminated white from monochromatic light in a region of the spectrum (490–500 nm) where color-normal adults can but color-deficient adults cannot. In the second experiment which also used a habituation paradigm, eight infants showed good discrimination between hues in a region of the spectrum (560–580 nm) where color-deficient adults typically show no hue discrimination. Results from these studies of the neutral zone and hue discrimination evidence trichromatic vision in infancy and are discussed in the context of their several clinical, social, and intellectual implications. |
