Citation

Plainis S, Murray IJ. Ophthalmic. Physiol. Opt. 2002; 22(5): 409-415.

Affiliation

Department of Optometry and Neuroscience, UMIST, Manchester, UK. plainis@med.uoc.gr

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12358311

Abstract

Conspicuity refers to the visibility of objects that are either close to threshold or viewed in a cluttered environment. Conventional, threshold-based tests of vision are unlikely to be related to target visibility, because visual systems behave differently under supra-threshold and close-to-threshold conditions, or when low luminance levels are used. In these experiments, Reaction Times (RTs) are tested under a wide range of contrasts, luminances and spatial frequencies commonly encountered in the real world. We show that RTs are closely related to sensitivity and can therefore provide a method of measuring supra-threshold visual performance. The data are interpreted in terms of visual performance when driving, where a reduction in target visibility leads to increases in processing time.

Language: en