Contrast sensitivity function of preschool children.

Abstract

SUMMARY A procedure specifically adapted for children of preschool age has been used to measure contrast sensitivity in emmetropic children aged 3 to 5 years. Mothers of the children acted as adult observers using the same procedure. The results show that the contrast sensitivity function of adults and children is very similar, sensitivity for the children being slightly lower than that for adults at all spatial frequencies. The sensory and cognitive factors involved in these differences are discussed. including acuity, in the first 6 months of life. Presumably the subsequent development to adult levels is more gradual. From measurements that have been reported on children of school age it seems that there is still a difference in contrast sensitivity between these children and adults.'8Here we investigate how close the vision of the preschool child is to that of the adult using the same test for both. A preliminary account of our overall results has already been presented.'9 We now describe the procedure and give a fuller analysis of the findings. Materials and methods STIMULIThe stimuli were black-and-white grating patterns mounted on the inner surfaces of transparent acrylic cubes (7-6 cm high by 8'9 cm wide) of the type commercially available for displaying photographs. For measurements of contrast sensitivity the gratings were black-and-white photographic prints of sinusoidal grating patterns taken from an oscilloscope screen, with care being taken in exposure and processing to obtain prints whose density was a linear function of the original light intensity. A set of prints was used whose contrast ranged from 0 75 % to 47 %. Spatial frequencies of 0-3, 15, and 3 cycles/deg were obtained by presenting the same cubes at 30 cm, 15 m, and 3 m. The acuity point on the contrast sensitivity function was determined, by using high-contrast square-wave gratings made from Letraset sheet no.

Development of Visual Acuity and Contrast Sensitivity in Children

“…It has been noted that children start to guess when they reach threshold, while adults continue to attempt to detect the stimulus. 5,6,43 Thus, even a forced-choice method will not eliminate all potential causes of differences.…”

“…Other studies did not report statistics. 6,43 Studies that used a yes/no method 3,44 may not be ideal, given that children may exhibit a different criterion than adults. Those studies that did use an alternative forced choice 40,[45][46][47] seem to be in agreement that CS is still not adult-like by 8 years.…”

“…Atkinson et al 43 Alley-running 2AFT staircase 4 years, n=6 Adults = 6 There is a difference between 4 year olds and adults (stat. not given) Derefeldt et al 42 Method of adjustment under 6-10 years, n=10 44 Yes/no method of limits.…”

Comparative study of visual functions in premature pre-school children with and without retinopathy of prematurity

“…This unexpected finding may be explained by the early age of the premature children in group G3 (mean age of 5 years, whereas the mean age of the remaining groups was 6 years), and was not in line with the findings of the Cryotherapy for ROP Cooperative Group, who studied 10yearold children in 2001. According to a 1981 study conducted with preschool children and their mothers, the factor that affected the responses was the difference in associative knowledge and not necessarily the age difference between the two groups (27) .…”

Effect of Visual Sensory Improvement by Amblyopia Treatment on Improvement of Ocular Functions

“…Visual acuity grows from about 20/330 at 1 month old to 20/19 at 5 years old. [1] Accommodation response also improves with increase of age. Haynes et al [2] reported that before 1 month of age, it showed poor accommodative response to the changing accommodative stimulus and wide range of accommodative response levels was observed, ranging from approxi- achieved by 4 months of age.…”