title: Color preferences in infants and adults are different.
abstract: Adults commonly prefer blues most and greenish yellows least, but these hue preferences interact with lightness and saturation (e.g., dark yellow is particularly disliked: Palmer & Schloss (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107:8877-8882, 2010)). Here, we tested for a similar hue-by-lightness interaction in infant looking preferences, to determine whether adult preferences are evident early in life. We measured looking times for both infants and adults in the same paired-comparison task using all possible pairs of eight colors: four hues (red/yellow/green/blue) at two lightness levels (dark/light). The adult looking data were strikingly similar to other adults' explicit preference responses, indicating for the first time that adults look longer at colors that they like. Infants showed a significant hue-by-lightness interaction, but it was quite different from the adult pattern. In particular, infants had a stronger looking preference for dark yellow and a weaker preference for light blue than did adults. The findings are discussed in relation to theories on the origins of color preference.
authors: University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, UK.
authors: Chloe
authors: C
authors: Taylor
authors: Karen
authors: K
authors: Schloss
authors: Stephen E
authors: SE
authors: Palmer
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Franklin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult