The Blue Dot Experiment

• For the experiment involved Researchers asking participants to identify “Blue” Dots from a series of a thousand Dots, colored blue & purple. Initially, the participants identified the color pretty accurately.

However, progressively researchers made sure the frequency of Blue dots reduced dramatically.

• The participants reacted by wrongly selecting as Blue Dots those that were shades of purple. Their classification of Blue expanded in proportion to the decrease in the Blue Dots on the screen. As the occurrence of blue dots decreased, their definition of blue expanded. Prevalence affected the judgment of the respondents. 

The researchers termed this phenomenon “prevalence-induced concept change.”