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Brightness effects on color pecking preferences in dark‐hatched domestic chicks
Author(s) -
Fischer Gloria J.,
Davis Stephen J.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.420140313
Subject(s) - pecking order , brightness , darkness , luminance , optics , white light , astrophysics , biology , mathematics , physics , ecology
Color pecking preferences in day‐old, dark‐hatched domestic chicks of 2 breeds were studied as a function of (1) target luminance (dim, medium, or bright) when testing was in darkness and in the light (Experiments I and II); (2) method of equilibrating target brightnesses (i.e., objectively or subjectively; Experients III and IV); and (3) ambient brightness (dim, medium, or bright; Experiment IV). White Leghorns were found to peck sooner and more often than New Hampshires. Under all conditions of target and ambient brightness, results revealed the previously reported bimodal (V‐shaped) color preference function with peak preferences in the blue‐violet and orange regions of the spectrum and minimal at green. The only brightness factor that affected the V‐shaped function was dark‐adapted vs light‐adapted viewing, that is, the chicks showed a slight shift away from red and/or a slightly more negative slope with light adaptation.