The perception of colour from 3 years of age

Abstract

This review presents the development of colour perception in children. A new-born child, who is developing his or her visual capacity, begins to distinguish the contours of shapes by differences in brightness, then distinguishes movement; then figure and shape. Colour recognition is the last stage of development. At birth, the infant is able to pick up stimuli from the environment, but is unable to process them, organise them into images and thus understand them. The ability to see goes hand in hand with the ability to understand what he or she sees. In the first months of life, the visual apparatus is decisively influenced by the environment: visual maturation is closely linked to stimulus. Therefore, stimuli must be adapted to the child's visual and cognitive abilities; colours, like figures, sizes and patterns should vary as the child grows. If stimuli are too simple, the child will not look at them much because they are uninteresting. Conversely, stimuli that are too complex will be looked at little because they are too tiring. The paper analyses the three stages 0-3 years, 3-5 years and after 5 years.