Abstract
A technique has been described whereby preferences of animals for a large number of stimuli can be studied simultaneously, and the responses automatically recorded. Groups of Ss are presented with a number of colored stimuli on the sides of an enclosure. Pecks are recorded on electrical counters. Data are presented showing that differential responses to colored objects do occur in chicks (N=200) and ducklings (N=100) that have had very limited visual experience and no opportunity for directed learning. It must therefore be supposed that these responses are innately organized. For the chicks there is a bimodal preference to color, with one peak occurring in the orange region of the spectrum and a second peak in the blue region. The ducklings, on the other hand, have a narrower range of preference with a single sharp peak within the green and yellowish-green region. The color preference curves of chicks and ducklings are obviously quite dissimilar. The dissimilarity suggests some functional determinant, but the nature of the determinant is as yet unknown.