Infant photometry: are mean adult isoluminance values a sufficient approximation to individual infant values?

Abstract

Individual differences in isoluminance values were studied in infants and adults using a motion nulling paradigm. Two luminance-modulated sinusoidal grating components (spatial frequency=0.25 cpd, temporal frequency=5.6 Hz, speed=22.4 deg/s) were superimposed and moved in opposite directions across a color video screen. The contrasts of the two components were traded off to determine motion nulls. Two conditions were used: red/black vs. green/black, and red/black vs. blue/black grating components. An eye movement based response measure was used for infant subjects, and an average of 308 trials per infant were obtained. As observed in earlier studies, the mean motion null values for infants and adults were highly similar in each condition. The standard errors of motion null values for individual subjects were very small. Individual differences among infants were also small, and were clearly measurable only in the red/black vs. blue/black condition. The close similarity of mean null values, combined with the small individual differences among infants, supports the idea that under the right circumstances mean adult isoluminance values can be used as a sufficient approximation to individual infant isoluminance values in studies of infant color vision. These circumstances are discussed and evaluated in detail.