An 1887 experiment on colored light and grip strength
Supervised by Shikisai 101
In a book published in Paris in 1887, Ch. Féré reported dynamometer (grip strength) readings taken while a subject looked at colored light. There was one subject. Which color of light gave the highest reading?
Answer
D. Red
Explanation
On page 42 of Féré's book Sensation et mouvement (Paris, 1887), he gives the right-hand dynamometer readings of one subject who looked at light passing through colored glass or tinted gelatin sheets. The normal reading was 23. Red light gave 42, orange 35, yellow 30, green 28 and blue 24. On the same page, Féré notes that the glass he had used for yellow was actually closer to orange. In new experiments using light split by a prism, he reports that the effect decreased in the order red, orange, green, blue and violet.
References
- Féré, Ch. (1887). Sensation et mouvement : études expérimentales de psycho-mécanique. Paris: Félix Alcan, p. 42. https://archive.org/details/sensationetmouve00fere
Supervised by Shikisai 101. Shikisai 101 wrote this question after checking the sources listed above.
