| Times Reacted to | Total Number of Pecks[19] | |
|---|---|---|
| Red | 12 | 31 |
| Yellow | 9 | 21 |
| Orange | 6 | 34 |
| Green | 5 | 11 |
| Blue | 1 | 3 |
I should attach no importance whatever to the quantitative estimate given in the table. The only fact of value so far is the evidence that from the first the chick reacts to all colors. In no case was there any random pecking at the white surface of the cardboard.
On a black background the same chicks reacted to all the colors.
II is a table of the results.
II
| Times Reacted to | Total Number of Pecks | |
|---|---|---|
| White | 6 | 19 |
| Blue | 4 | 11 |
| Red | 4 | 8 |
| Green | 4 | 4 |
| Orange | 2 | 7 |
| Yellow | 2 | 4 |
In other experiments chicks were tried with green spots on a red ground, red spots on a green ground, yellow spots on an orange ground, green spots on a blue ground, and black spots on a white ground. All were reacted to. Thus, what is apparently a long and arduous task to the child is heredity’s gift to the chick. It is conceivable, though to me incredible, that what the chick reacts to is not the color, but the very minute elevation of the spot. My spots were made so that they were only the thickness of thin paper above pasteboard. Any one who cares to resort to the theory that this elevation caused the reaction can settle the case by using color-spots absolutely level with the surface.[20]
Instinctive Reactions to Distance, Direction, Size, etc.
I have purposely chosen this awkward heading rather than the simple one, Space-Perception, because I do not wish to imply that there is in the young chick such consciousness of space-facts as there is in human beings. All that will be shown here is that he reacts appropriately in the presence of space-facts, reacts in a fashion which would in the case of a man go with genuine perception of space.