Color Vision and Age

Abstract

The relationship of color perception and age is a problem that has until recently been completely ignored. It was first raised, in 1942, by Tiffin, who cited, in his Industrial Psychology' and also in a technical article,2 a study in which he tested the color vision of 7000 factory workers. His results are startling. He reported that 26% of the workers between 20-25 yr. of age failed to pass the test used by him and that a steadily increasing proportion failed at every succeeding 5-yr. age-group until the failures reached 68% for those over 55 yr. of age. Lawshe, in 1948, reported the same results.3 Such finding, if verified, would be of great practical as well as theoretical significance. The age of workers whose duties required normal color vision would immediately become a matter of concern.4 Moreover, our theories of color vision, in particular of color-blindness, would have to be greatly modified. Are the results sound? Are they verifiable? The test used by Tiffin and his collaborators was neither named nor described; it was merely referred to as a four-plate color-vision test. Correspondence with Tiffin indicated that the test consisted of the four plates in the Keystone Telebinocular Vision Testing Apparatus. The reliability and validity of