A pseudoisochromatic test of color vision for human infants.
Despite the development of experimental methods capable of measuring early human color vision, we still lack a procedure comparable to those used to diagnose the well-identified congenital and acquired color vision anomalies in older children, adults, and clinical patients. In this study, we modified a pseudoisochromatic test to make it more suitable for young infants. Using a forced choice preferential looking procedure, 216 3-to-23-mo-old babies were tested with pseudoisochromatic targets that fell on either a red/green or a blue/yellow dichromatic confusion axis. For comparison, 220 color-normal adults and 22 color-deficient adults were also tested. Results showed that all babies and adults passed the blue/yellow target but many of the younger infants failed the red/green target, likely due to the interaction of the lingering immaturities within the visual system and the small CIE vector distance within the red/green plate. However, older (17-23 mo) infants, color- normal adults and color-defective adults all performed according to expectation. Interestingly, performance on the red/green plate was better among female infants, well exceeding the expected rate of genetic dimorphism between genders. Overall, with some further modification, the test serves as a promising tool for the detection of early color vision anomalies in early human life.
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, NL A1B 3X9, Canada. Electronic address: michelem@mun.ca.
Michele E
ME
Mercer
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, NL A1B 3X9, Canada; Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, NL A1B 3X9, Canada. Electronic address: sdrodge@gmail.com.
Suzanne C
SC
Drodge
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, NL A1B 3X9, Canada; Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, NL A1B 3X9, Canada. Electronic address: mcourage@mun.ca.
Mary L
ML
Courage
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, NL A1B 3X9, Canada; Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, NL A1B 3X9, Canada. Electronic address: jagger4321@hotmail.com.
Russell J
RJ
Adams
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003118:Color Perception; D003119:Color Perception Tests / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D003117:Color Vision Defects / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult
Color deficiencies; Color vision; Gender differences; Infants; Pseudoisochromatic; Visual development