Differences in the responses of heterozygous carriers of colorblindness and normal controls to briefly presented stimuli.
Two experiments were conducted in order to investigate the possible effects of X-inactivation (Lyon, 1961) on female carriers of colorblindness. The results of the first experiment, like those of Grützner et al. (1976), were consistent with the prediction of the Lyon (1961) hypothesis that the retinas of female carriers are composed of mosaic patches of colorblind and normal areas. In this first experiment, rows and columns of colored spots were presented tachistoscopically, and subjects were asked to identify the colors of the spots. In the second experiment, plates from the Ishihara test of colorblindness were presented tachistoscopically and subjects were asked to identify the number which was embedded in the pattern of colored dots. Both experiments support the Lyon hypothesis in that female carriers were found to have more difficulty in perceiving patterns of colored stimuli than did control subjects, and they suggest that the amount of time that a carrier has to scan colored stimuli plays an important role in her ability to accurately perceive them.
Cohn
S A
SA
Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Stony Brook 11794.
Emmerich
D S
DS
Carlson
E A
EA
D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology; D003117:Color Vision Defects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013997:Time Factors