The Popular Science Monthly, August, 1900: Vol. 57, May, 1900 to October, 1900Various
Science
The Popular Science Monthly, August, 1900: Vol. 57, May, 1900 to October, 1900
Various
Science -- Periodicals; Technology -- Periodicals
College the order of preference was not very different, being blue
(38 per cent), red (18 per cent), yellow, green, violet; in a later
investigation the order remained the same, there being only some
increase in the preference for red; it was considered that association
accounted for the preference for blue, while more conscious as well as
more emotional elements entered into the preference for red.
By far the most extensive investigation of color preference was that
carried on at Chicago by Professor Jastrow on 4,500 persons, mostly
adults, of both sexes and various nationalities.[H] Blue was found
to be the favorite color, less than half as many persons preferring
red; of every thirty men ten voted for blue and three for red, while
of every thirty women five voted for red and four for blue. The men
also liked violet and on the whole confined their choice to but few
colors, the women also liked pink, green (very seldom chosen by men)
and yellow, and showed a tendency to choose light and dainty shades.
There was on the whole a decided preference for dark shades; the least
favorite colors were yellow and orange. It is evident that, as we
should expect, within the elementary field of popular æsthetics, women
show a more trained feeling for color than men.
[H] J. Jastrow, “The Popular Æsthetics of Color,” _Popular
Science Monthly_, 1897.
It is not quite easy to coördinate the various phenomena of color
predilection. Careful and extended observations are still required. It
seems to me, however, that the facts, as at present ascertained, do
suggest a certain order and harmony in the phenomena. It is difficult
not to believe that there really is, both among many uncivilized
peoples and also many children at an early age, even to a slight extent
among civilized adults, a relative inability, by no means usually
absolute, to recognize and distinguish the tones of color at the more
refrangible end of the spectrum. The earliest writers on the subject
were wrong when they supposed that color nomenclature at all accurately
corresponded to color perception, and it is well recognized that there
are no peoples who are wholly unable to distinguish between green
and blue and black. But as Garbini has clearly shown, there really
is a parallelism between color nomenclature and color recognition,
and Garbini’s wide investigation has confirmed the experiments of
Preyer on a single child by showing that there is a certain hesitancy
and uncertainty in recognizing the colors at the more refrangible
end of the spectrum, long after children are familiar with the less
refrangible end. In the same way the important investigations of
Rivers have confirmed the earlier observations of Magnus and Almquist
in showing that savages in many cases exhibit a certain difficulty
in recognizing and distinguishing blue and green, such as they never
experience with red and yellow. The vagueness of color nomenclature
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account