title: Visual Search in the Real World: Color Vision Deficiency Affects Peripheral Guidance, but Leaves Foveal Verification Largely Unaffected.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  People with color vision deficiencies report numerous limitations in daily life, restricting, for example, their access to some professions. However, they use basic color terms systematically and in a similar manner as people with normal color vision. We hypothesize that a possible explanation for this discrepancy between color perception and behavioral consequences might be found in the gaze behavior of people with color vision deficiency.
  
  
  METHODS
  A group of participants with color vision deficiencies and a control group performed several search tasks in a naturalistic setting on a lawn. All participants wore a mobile eye-tracking-driven camera with a high foveal image resolution (EyeSeeCam). Search performance as well as fixations of objects of different colors were examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Search performance was similar in both groups in a color-unrelated search task as well as in a search for yellow targets. While searching for red targets, participants with color vision deficiencies exhibited a strongly degraded performance. This was closely matched by the number of fixations on red objects shown by the two groups. Importantly, once they fixated a target, participants with color vision deficiencies exhibited only few identification errors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In contrast to controls, participants with color vision deficiencies are not able to enhance their search for red targets on a (green) lawn by an efficient guiding mechanism. The data indicate that the impaired guiding is the main influence on search performance, while foveal identification (verification) is largely unaffected by the color vision deficiency.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, University of MunichMunich, Germany; German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders, University of MunichMunich, Germany.
authors.forename: Günter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kugler
authors.affiliation: Neurophysics, Philipps University MarburgMarburg, Germany; Centre for Vision Research, York UniversityToronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Bernard M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: 't Hart
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, University of MunichMunich, Germany; German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders, University of MunichMunich, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kohlbecher
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, University of MunichMunich, Germany; German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders, University of MunichMunich, Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bartl
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception, Université Paris DescartesParis, France; Institute of Cognitive Science, University of OsnabrückOsnabrück, Germany.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schumann
authors.affiliation: Neurophysics, Philipps University MarburgMarburg, Germany; Institute of Physics, Chemnitz University of TechnologyChemnitz, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Einhäuser
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, University of MunichMunich, Germany; German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders, University of MunichMunich, Germany; Institute of Medical Technology, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus - SenftenbergSenftenberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Erich
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schneider
keywords: color vision; color vision deficiency; deuteranomaly; eye tracker; gaze behavior; real world behavior; visual perception; visual search