Here's another data point towards a theory of perception. My son, 4, is colorblind (or color perception deficient or whatever the right term these days is). He was looking at the dark red flowers on his mom's blouse, and said they were black. He was told they were red, and he accepted that—he is very accepting of the fact that colors aren't what they seem to him as. I then asked him if they looked red to him after he was told they were red. He was very definite about an affirmative answer to this question.
I'm confused. You said your son answered in the affirmative. Are you saying your son said they appeared red to him after you told him they were red?
ReplyDeleteYup. It's a data point about the cognitive-ladenness of perception.
ReplyDeleteAlex,
ReplyDeleteWhat would be fascinating is whether he would also say that the flower looks more like a red card or more like a black card. If perception is theory laden he might more often assimilate the color of the flower to the red card (which is definitely red to him) than to the black card. Though, of course, the raw perception of each must be about the same to him.
Is that a "data point about the cognitive-ladenness of perception" or the epistemic impact of parental say-so? Perhaps both
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