The Mind of the Child, Part II: The Development of the Intellect, International Education; Series Edited By William T. Harris, Volume IX.Preyer, William T.
Science
The Mind of the Child, Part II: The Development of the Intellect, International Education; Series Edited By William T. Harris, Volume IX.
Preyer, William T.
Child development; Child psychology
It is a surprising thing, in the account of the former case, that
nothing whatever is said of the behavior of the patient on the first and
on the fourth day after the operation. We must assume that he passed the
first day wholly with his eyes bandaged. Further, the boy pointed out
four corners of a box, while the box had eight; yet no inference can be
drawn from this, for possibly only one side of the box was shown to him.
The most remarkable thing is the statement of the patient that he saw
the _shadow_ of his hand in the glass. This circumstance, and the
astonishing certainty, at the very first attempts to estimate
space-relations, in the discrimination of round and angular, and in the
observation that the table was somewhat farther from him than he could
reach, show what influence the mere ability to perceive colors has upon
vision in space. Before the operation, W. distinguished only striking
colors from one another; but he could perceive nearness and distance of
colored objects, within narrow limits, by the great differences in the
luminous intensity of the colors. He distinguished with certainty
dimness from brightness. Accordingly, when he noticed a decrease in the
brightness of a color, he inferred the distance of the colored object
from the eye, regulating his judgment also by touch. Thus the boy had,
before the operation, some perception of space with the eye, and it is
not much to be wondered at, considering his uncommon intelligence, that
he, soon after the operation (probably attempts at seeing were secretly
made by the patient on the first day) learned to judge pretty surely of
space-relations--much more surely than a person born blind learns to
judge in so short a time. Besides, it is not to be forgotten that, while
it is true that the cataract had become completely developed at the end
of the first year of life, there is no proof that the child was unable
to see during the first months. At that time images, as in the second
case, may have unconsciously impressed themselves, with which, at a
later period, more accurate space-ideas may have been associated,
through the sense of touch, than is the case with persons born
completely blind. Ware concludes, from his observations--
1. "When children are born blind, in consequence of having cataracts
in their eyes, they are never so totally deprived of sight as not to
be able to distinguish colors; and, though they can not see the
figure of an object, nor even its color, unless it be placed within
a very short distance, they nevertheless can tell whether, when
within this distance, it be brought nearer to or carried farther
from them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account