Perception or preference? Mediation of gene effects in the colour choices of naive quail chicks (C. coturnix japonica)

The purpose of this study was to examine gene effects in the peripheral and central neural mediation of colour preferences in artificially selected Japanese quail chicks (Coturnix coturnix japonica). Behavioural data indicated preferences of blue over red and red over blue in the respectively selected genetic lines, and general preferences for white in both lines. Preferences were influenced by luminance variations of testing stimuli. Choices between segmented stimuli that combined blue, red, and white, in various patterns of systematically varied hues and luminances, indicated perceptual discrimination of colours in each line. Preference values combined within stimuli summated additively in choice responses, suggesting no genetic association between colour preference and colour perception. Electrophysiological data indicated systematic differences between waveshapes of averaged evoked potentials according to hues of eliciting stimuli. These data also counterindicated the involvement of colour perception in the genetic variations of colour preference. However, no significant differences between waveshapes were found in relation to genetic variations in preferences.