F AA-AM-73-18 

UTILITY OF SEVERAL CLINICAL TESTS OF COLOR 

DEFECTIVE VISION IN PREDICTING DAYTIME 

AND NIGHTTIME PERFORMANCE WITH 

THE AVIATION SIGNAL LIGHT GUN 

Jo Ann Steen, B.A. 

William E. Collins, Ph.D. 

Mark F. Lewis, Ph.D. 

FAA Civil Aeromedical Institute 

P.O. Box 25082 

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73125 

December 1973 

Availability is unlimited. Document may be released 

to the National Technical Information Service, 

Springfield, Virginitt :22151, for sale to the public. 

Prepared for 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION 

Office of Aviation Medicine 

Washington, D.C. 20591 
p

FAA-AM-73-18 

4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date 

liTILITY OF SEVERAL CLINICAL TESTS OF COLOR DEFECTIVE December 1973 

VISION tN PREDICTING DAYTIME AND NIGHTTIME PERFORM- 6 . Performing Organization Code 

ANCE WITH THE AVIATION SIGNAL LIGHT GUN 

7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. 

Jo Ann Steen, B.A., William E. Collins, Ph.D., and 

Mark F. Lewis, Ph.D. 

9. Performing Orgoni zotion Nome and Address 10. Work Unit No. 

FAA Civil Aeromedical Institute 

P. 0. Box 25082 11. Contract or Grant No. 

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73125 

13. Type of Report and Period Covered 

12. Sponsoring Agency Nome and Addresc 

Office of Aviation Medicine OAM Report 

Federal Aviation Administration 

800 Independence Avenue, s.w. 14. Sponsoring Ag~ncy Code 

Washington, D. c. 20591 

15. Supplementary Notes 

This research was conducted under Tasks No. AM-A-73-PSY-45 and AM-D-74-PSY-45. 

16. Abstract 

Subjects of varying type and degree of color deficiency were tested on a battery 

of color tests, including the American Optical Company Plates (both 1940 and 1965 

editions), the Dvorine Plates, the Farnsworth-Munsell 100-hue, the Farnsworth 

Lantern, the Farnsworth Panel D-15, the SAM Color Threshold Tester, the Titmus 

Vision Tester Color Plate, and an anomaloscope. Correlations with a daytime and 

nighttime practical test of the ability of subjects to discriminate aviation 

signal red, white, and green were obtained. The results indicate that color 

defective people can identify flashes from a signal light gun better at night 

than during the day. It was also found that the Farnsworth Lantern, the SAM 

Color Threshold Tester, the two sets of A 0 Plates, and the Dvorine Plates were 

among the best predictors of performance on the practical test; the Titmus Plate 

was the poor•=st predictor. 

17. Key Words 18. Oi stri bution Statement 

Availability is unlimited. Document may be 

Color Vision released to the National Technical In formaSignal Lights tion Service, Springfield, Virginia 22151 

Night Flight for sale to the public. 

19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price 

Unclassified Unclassified 16 $3.00 

Form DOT F 1700.7 18·691 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

The authors express their appreciation to Major General William J. 

Smith and to Colonel William Behrens for their assistance in the acquisition 

and testing of military personnel at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City, 

and also especially thank Colonel Carl Porter and Captain Richard Proctor 

for their generous assistance during the testing procedure. 
UTILITY OF SEVERAL CLINICAL TESTS OF COLOR DEFECTIVE VISION 

IN PREDICTING DAYTIME AND NIGHTTIME PERFORMANCE 

WITH THE AVIATION SIGNAL LIGHT GUN 

I. Introduction. 

~Iedical certificates (Class II and III) issned 

by the Federal ..-hiation Administration reqnire 

that ca ndidates be able to discriminate aYiation 

signal red, ·green, and white:' There are seyeral 

clinical color Yision tests which are approYed and 

currently nsed by AYiation ~Iedi ca l Examiners 

to satisfy this color ,-ision reqnirement. If the 

candidate fails one of these clinical tests, he can 

appeal to take a practical test nsing the signal 

light gun. If he fails the signal light ~nn test, 

which is giYen dnring -the day, his certificate is 

marked im·alid for "night flight or by color signal control." Dne to a question as to holY well 

the applicant might do on the signal pm test if 

it were giYen at night, a stndy11 '"as conducted. 

the resnlts of \Yhich indica ted an impro1·ement 

in performance under nighttime conditions. In 

the prm·ious stndy,11 similarities of the Famsworth Lantern (a clinical test) and the signal 

gun were noted, i.e., both required identification 

of red, white, and green li~ht . As a resnlt of 

that study, it was snggested from seYera l sonrces 

that if the Farnsworth Lantem were administered in a darkened room instead of the daylight 

illumination recommended by the mannfactnrer, 

its ability to predict performance on the nighttime signal light gnn test might be impro1·ed. 

In addition, requests \Yere receiYed from medical 

field personnel for an eYaluation of the original 

1940 edition of a pseudo-isochromatic plate test 

deYeloped by American Optical Company and a 

revised 1965 edition of the same test. A third 

objectiYe of the study was to impr01·e o1·er previous work' 11 control of several experimental 

variables: thus a larger group of color defecti ,·es 

was used, a control group \Yas added, and a possible practice effect \Yas eliminated by randomizing the order of daytime and nighttime presentations of the signal light gun. 

1 

II. Method. 

A. S7tbjects. Arrangements were made to 

screen approximately 4000 active-duty medical 

records at Tinker Air Force Base for evidence 

of color defect. Of those men ,identified as color 

defecti ,-e, 137 were contacted and completed the 

entire test battery of both clinical and practical 

tests. A gronp of 128 normal control subjects

also acti,·e-duty males at Tinker AFB, were 

tested on the same battery. 

B. Tests and P1'ocedn1'es. Following is a description of the complete test battery given both 

groups of subjects. 

1. The American Optical Pseudo-Isochromatic 

Plates for Testing Color Perception (1940 edition)" consist of 18 nnmerical test plates and one 

demonstration plate. Failure for this test was 

an incorrect response to fiye or more test plates. 

2. The American Optical Pseudo-Isochromatic 

Plates for Testing Color Perception (1965 edition) 10 consist of 14 numerical test plates and one 

demonstration plate. It is a rnised and shortened Yersion of the 1940 edition. Incorrect response to fi1·e or more plates \Yas failing. 

:3. The D1·orine Pseudo-Isochromatic Plates1 

consist of L> numerical plates, inclnding one demonstration plate. Failnre for this test was any 

error on 12 or more plates. 

-!. The Farnsworth Panel D-15 was designed 

to differentiate the seYere color defecti Ye from 

the moderate color defectiYe and the color normaU The test has 15 color plastic test caps and 

one reference cap. The subject was instructed 

to place each cap next to rhe one most like it in 

color and to begin with the reference cap. A 

failure was scored if there were at least two 

crosso1·ers in approximately the same direction 

on the score sheet circle. 

5. The Farn orth-~f unsell 100-lme Test " ·as 

designed to measure color discrimination among 
,

hinged boxes. The lid, of each box contains onefourth of .the 85 color test caps randomly arranged. The bottom has two fixed reference caps. 

one at either end. The subject was told to take 

the test caps from the lid and place them in the 

bottom half of the box in order according to 

color. The failure criterion was a calculated 

error score of 100 or more. 

Each of the fi,-e previous tests was given in a 

darkened room under a )Iacbeth easel lamp 

equipped with a day1ight filter. This lighting 

approximates the C.I.E. source C and is the 

manufacturers' recommended illumination for the 

abo,·e tests. 

6. The Color Threshold Tester,0 developed by 

the Air Force, consists of two vertically arranged 

discs, each containing eight filters, placed in 

front of a test light. The upper disc contains 

neutral density filters to vary luminance of the 

test light; the lower disc has color filters to ,-ary 

color. The test, gi,·en in a darkened room, consisted of showing and naming the eight colors 

at . the highest luminance and then ha,·ing the 

subject name them first at the lowest luminance 

and then at each succeedingly higher luminance. 

The order of presentation of the colors was reversed from each previous lower luminance. 

Failure was considered to be a score of 49 or less. 

7. The Farnsworth Lantern,3 developed by the 

Navy, has a pair of vertically arrayed lights. 

They can be red, green, or white in any combination, and all nine possible pairs were shown to 

the subject in a random order. The subject 

passed if he completed the first series of the nine 

color pairs with no errors. If an error was made, 

two more series ''ere shown and scored; a failure 

was an average of more than one error per series 

for the last two series. (The test was given in 

both a lighted room and a darkened room with 

the order of light or dark presentation random 

over the entire group of subjects.) 

8. The Nagel-typ~ anomaloscope (SchmicltHaensch) displays a monocular, illuminated view 

of a bipartite circle-. The top half is a variable 

red-green mixture, an.cl the bottom is a yellow, 

the luminance of which can be varied. The subject was first told to stare at the Trenclelenburg 

adaptation light for three minutes. Then he was 

asked to look into the anomaloscope at the circle 

2 

y g

asked by the examiner to match a color set in the 

top half of the circle by varying the luminance 

of the bottom portion. Between each match. he 

was told to stare at the adaptation light for 30 

seconds. The procedure continued until the outside limits for each subject's matches were established. After the series under "neutral" adaptation, a chromatic adaptation series was run. The 

subject was asked to continue ~taring into the 

anomaloscope at the circle between his matches 

and to adjust the luminance as the examiner aclj us ted the red-green mixture. Ranges for both 

series were noted. The X agel anomaloscope uses 

a mixture of spectral red and spectral green to 

match a spectral yellow light. The largest portion of the subjects tested was classified as normal 

trichromats; i.e., they required a normal mixture 

of both reel and green to match the yellow light. 

Dichromacy (protanopia or deuteranopia) was 

diagnosed when the proportion of red and green 

lights could be varied so that the subject matched 

yellow to both red and green alone. Protanopes 

were differentiated from deuteranopes by their 

need for the yellow light to be dimmed to match 

red, resulting from the protanopes' loss of luminosity at the reel end of the spectrum. Anomalous 

trichromats were diagnosed by a large range of 

matches and classified as deuteranomalous or 

protanomalous according to wheth.er their mean 

for red-green matches fell closer to spectral reel 

or spectral green. The scale for the red-green 

mixture was 0 to 73. Specifically, for this study, 

a mean for matches made by the control group 

was found and the following arbitrary classifications were made. A normal was defined as having a range of 10 scale units or less with all 

matches falling within three standard deviations 

(SD) (36 to 49) of the mean. A borderline 

defective was defined as having a range of 10 

scale units or less within four SD (34 to 52) of the 

mean; a mild defective as having a range of 15 

or less within four SD ( 34 to 52) of the mean; 

a moderate defective as having a range of 25 or 

less and/ or outside four SD (34 to 52) of the 

mean; a severe defective as having a range of 26 

scale units or more. An "extreme" anomaly was 

diagnosed when the range under chromatic adaptation was greater than the range under "neutral" 

adaptation. 8 (N.B. It should be noted that a 

new anomaloscope was used in this study and no 
from two preY ions studies. ) 

9. The Titmns Plate (Color Perception Plate 

of the Titmns Vision Tester) 12 consists of a 

Ishihara Pseudo-Isochromatic Plates. The plat

is Yiewed binocularly through a stereoscope tha

presents an image of the plate at · an optica

1------------------------------1 

1-2 

3 1-----------___________ ...;.._1 

1------------------------------1 

1-------------------1 

1-------------1 

1---------------1 

1-----------------1 ~---------------~ 

1----------------I 

1----------------1 

1--------------1 

1---·------------1 

1-------1 

1-------1 

1-------1 

1---------1 

1--t 

1---------------------1 

1--1 

1-----1 

H 

1-----1 

1------i 

1-- ------------------ ---1 

~----------t 

0 10 20 30 40 ~0 60 70 

4 

~ 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

II 

12 

13 

14 

I~ 

16 

17 

18 

19 

Extreme Deuteranomalous 

20- 47 4 Deuteranopic 48 

49 

~0 

~I 

~2 

~3 

~4 gi Severe Deuteranomalous ~7- ~8 

~9 

60 

61 

62 

63 

64 

6~ 

66 

67 

:: Moderate Deuteranomalou

70 

71 

72 

73 

74 

H-79 7~ 1 Mild Deuteranomalous 

80 

81 

:~ 4 Borderline Defective-

:~ + Deuteranomalous 

FrGVRE 1. Range of anomalo;;<'ope matches marle h~· deu tE>ranomalous :uul clcut<>t·anopic suhjeets under condition

of "neutral" adaptation (solid lines) and, where different, chromatic atlaptation {hrokcn lines). 

3 
0 10 20 30 

H 

I--f 

~ 

~ 

40 

H 

H 

~ 

1-----f 

1-----4 

1-----1 

H 

~ 

1-----f 

1-----f 

H 

1-----f 

~ 

50 60 70 

86 

87-88 

89 

90 

91-92 

93 

94 

95-97 

98-99 

100-102 

103 

104-105 

106 

107-109 

110 

Ill- 112 

113 

114-117 

118 

119 

120-121 

122 

123-127 

128- 132 

133-135 

136-141 

142 -145 

146 

147 

148 

149 

150-151 

152-154 

155 

156-157 

158-160 

161- 166 

167 

168 

169-171 

1"7'2 -175 

176-179 

180-181 

182 

183-185 

186 

187- 191 

192-196 

197- 199 

200 

201- 203 

204 

205-208 

209-210 

211 - 212 

213 

Normal 

FIG1:RE 2. Range "Of anomaloscope matches made by normal subjects under conditions of "neutral" adaptation 

(solid lines) and, where different, chromatic adaptation (broken lines). 

distance of 20 feet. The subject was instructed 

to identify the numbers in each circle on the 

plate. Failure criterion was any error. 

10. The signal light gun is designed for projecting a high-intensity beam of light for clear 

(white) , red, or green signals to airport traffic 

both in the air and on the ground. The optical 

system consists of a principal reflector, auxiliary 

reflector, lamp, color filters, cover glass, a color 

4 

indicator, and a sight. The lamp is a 50 candle 

power, 6-8 V., RP-11 bulb, single contact prefocus base. The candle po,ver of the clear beam 

in all directions making an angle less than 0.15° 

with the axis is not less than 150,000 candles, 

and in all directions making an angle greater 

than 1.0° with the axis is not more than 10,000 

candles. The unit is focused for infinity. A 

single pistol grip contains all signal controls: an 
filtets for red or green sign-als, and a thumboperated lever for selecting a clear, or white, 

signal. The color filters are specified as aviation 

red and aviation green and the definitions of the 

color are expressed in terms of the "standard 

obsener " and coordinate system adopted by the 

International Commission on Illumination at 

Cambridge, England, in 1931.6 The chromaticity 

coordinates are : aviation red, Y is not greater 

than 0.335. and Z is not greater than 0.002 ; aviation green, X is not greater than 0.440-0.320¥ 

or greater than Y -0.170, and Y is not less than 

0.390-0.170X; and aviation white, X is not less 

than 0.350 or greater than 0.540, and Y- Yo is not 

numerically greater than 0.01. 

The signal light gun test was given to each 

subject both during the day and at night. The 

or at night was randomized over the entire group 

of subjects to avoid a practice effect. The gun 

was stationed indoors at a clear window at an 

elevation of 38 feet. The subject was tested outdoors at distances of 1000 and 1500 feet from the 

window and asked to identify a fi ve-second flash 

of aviation signal red, green, or white. Three 

flashes \Yere presented two minutes apa rt at each 

distance. The order of presentation \Yas selected 

randomly but each color was presented at least 

once in each six-flash series. The subject was 

asked to identify the color before the termination 

of the flash. The failure criterion was any error 

for each set of six flashes. 

III. Results and Discussion. 

The ranges of anomaloscope matches are shown 

in Figures 1, 2, and 3. Figure 1 shows the ranges 

214 I 21~ Borderline Defective- 216 - 217 

218 Proto noma lous 219 

220 

221 l 222 

223 

224 22~ Mild Protonomolous 226 - 227 

228 

229 

230 

t 

231 

232 Moderate Protonomolous 

233 

234 

23~ l 236 - 237 

238 Severe Protonomolous 239 

240 

241 

242-2~4 • Protonopic 2~~ 

1-------------------------------1 

1------------------------------1 2~6 

1----------------------------1 

1--------------------------1 

1--------------------------1 

0 10 20 

1--------- ---1 

1--------1 

1--------1 

1---------------------1 

1---------1 

H 

1--------1 

30 40 !SO 60 10 

2~7 

2~8 

2~9 

260 Extreme Protonomolous 

261 

262 

263 

264 

26~ 

FIGrRF: :t Han~e of anomalos('ope matclws madP h~· protanoma lou,.: anrl protanopi c suhjects under conditions of 

"neutral" a1laptat ion (:solitl line:s) and, whe re differe nt, 1·h romati c adaptation (broken lines). 

5 
gg; g

·shows ranges for protanomalous and protanopic 

subjects. The ranges under chromatic adaptation 

from subjects labeled as extreme anomalies are 

indicated by broken lines, while solid lines indicate the matches obtained under "neutral" adaptation. These figures show the distribution of 

the various types and also the severity of defect 

of color vision in the test population. 

Table 1 gives the product-moment correlations 

(phi coefficients) between each of the clinical 

tests in the battery and the signal light gun test 

under both day and night conditions. The phi 

coefficient shows how well each clinical test fared 

as a predictor of performance on the practical 

p, 

phi coefficients declined for nighttime conditions 

as compared to the daytime conditions. The 

efficacy with which the clinical tests will predict 

performance on the night practical test was much 

less than with daytime testing. The same lower 

predictability of clinical color vision tests was 

found ·in a previous study.11 

The phi coefficients for the Farnsworth . Lantern were essentially the same '"hen the test was 

gi ,·en under both dark and light conditions. In 

agreement with a previous study,11 this test 

ranked as one of the best predictors of performance on the signal light gun test, whether given 

during the day or the night. The phi coefficients 

Table 1 

Correlations (phi coefficients) between clinical tests and the color signal 

light gun test and the per cent misses (i.e., the percentage of subjects 

who passed the clinical test but failed the practical test). All 

correlations are significant at the .01 level. 

Signal Light Gun Test 

Da Night 

Phi Per Cent Phi Per Cent 

Clinical Tests Coefficients Misses Coefficients Misses 

American Optical Co. - 1940 .79 .0 .46 .0 

American Optical Co. - 1965 .77 .0 .44 .o 

Anomaloscope .56 .o .32 .o 

Dvorine Plates .74 3.8 .48 .8 

Farnsworth-Munsell 100-hue .58 3.0 .39 .4 

Farnsworth Lantern in Dark .79 2.6 .51 .4 

Farnsworth Lantern in Light .79 1.9 .52 .o 

Farnsworth Pane 1 D-15 .64 6.4 .42 1.9 

SAM Color Threshold Tester .77 1.9 .so .0 

Titmus Plate .36 .0 .20 .o 

Signal Light Gun Test at Night .51 14.3 

6 
),, 

plate tests can be considered to ha,·e giYen satisfactory results. The other plate test, the Titmus 

Plate, correlated much lo\Yer with the light gun 

than did any of the other tests in the test battery 

(this test ,,·as also the poorest of se,·eral types 

tested prHiously''). The other clinical tests had 

phi coefficients ranging in between the abo,·e 

tests. 

The "miss" rates for the nighttime signal gun 

were the same as or lower than those for daytime 

testing. The "miss" rate is that percentage of 

subjects who pass the clinical test but fail the 

practical test. This is an important statistic 

since this percentage represents those airmen recei,·ing an unrestricted certificate who should be 

recei Ying one with color Yision restrictions. In 

all the clinical tests: howe,·er, this rate was exceedingly lo\Y. 

gpppp

the nighttime test but failed the daytime . te

Of the 61 subjects who failed one of the sign

light gun tests: only hYo passed the daytime t

and failed the nighttime test. Both of these m

were protanopic and required the highest amoun

of brightness recorded from this group of su

jects to match pure green on the anomaloscop

They both identified red correctly but confus

the \Yhite and green flashes. (In preYious work

of 35 subjects who failed a practical test, on

four passed in the daytime and failed during t

nighttime.) Of the 21 subjects in the prese

study \Yho failed both night and day signal g

tests, six missed the same number of flashes und

both conditions, 10 missed more during the da

and fi ye missed more flashes at night. Of all 

subjects who failed at least one of the practi

tests, 38 of these passed the nighttime but fail

Table 2 

Classification of subjects by their results on the signal light gun test 

and the anomaloscope. 

ANOMALOSCOPE DIAGNOSIS N PASS PASS DAY PASS NIGHT PASS DA

NONE ONLY ONLY 8 NIGHT 

Normal 128 128 

Borderline { Protanoma/ous 7 7 

Defective Deuteranomalous 4 4 

{ Protanomalous 9 9 

Mild 

Deuteranomalous 7 7 

{ Protanomalous 5 4 

Moderate 

Deuteranomalous II 9 

{ Protanoma/ous 7 2 4 

Severe 

Deuteranomalous 16 5 10 

Protanopic 13 5 2 5 I 

Deuteranopic 28 6 14 8 

{ Protanomalous II 3 4 4 

Extreme 

Deuteranomalous 19 3 7 9 

TOTAL 265 21 2 38 204 

7 
jects who failed only one practical test, 95 per 

cent passed the night only \Yhile 5 per cent passed 

the day only. This corresponds \Yith similar results in a pre,·ious study11 : that is, the majority 

of those subjects passing only one of the two 

practical tests passed the nighttime signal light 

gun test. The actual numbers of subjects for the 

present study who passed and/ or failed the practical tests: and their deficiencies as diagnosed by 

the anomaloscope are found in Table 2. 

Table 3 gi,·es the false alarm rates for the 

clinical tests. The false alarm rate is that percentage of subjects who failed the clinical test 

but passed the practical test. As was preYiously 

demonstrated, all false alarm rates rose under 

nighttime conditions. This shows that many of 

those who fail a clinical test can pass the signal 

light gun test when giYen at night. The Farns

had the lowest false alarm rate; it was, however, 

not significantly better than several other tests 

in this respect. 

Several conclusions can be reached as a result 

of this study. It is clear from both these data 

and those of a previous study11 that color defectiYe people can better identify colored flashes 

from the signal light gun at night than when it 

is administered during the day, as it is currently. 

Because failure on this practical test prohibits 

the pilot from flying at night, it may be reasonable that the applicant who fails a daytime test 

be given a chance to demonstrate his ability to 

identify color signals at night. It should be 

emphasized, howe\·er, that passing the signal 

light gun of itself does not indicate normal color 

vision; it simply indicates adequate performance 

on this particular color task. Seventy-six of our 

Table 3 

False alarm rates: the percentage of subjects who failed each 

clinical test but passed the color signal light gun test. 

Signal Light Gun Test 

Clinical Test Night 

American Optical Co. - 1940 9.1 22.6 

American Optical Co. - 1965 10.2 23.8 

Anomaloscope 25.3 38.9 

Dvorine Plates 5.7 16.2 

Farnsworth-Munsell 100-hue 15.8 26.8 

Farnsworth Lantern in Dark 4.9 16.2 

Farnsworth Lantern in Light 6.0 17.7 

Farnsworth Panel D-15 6.0 15.1 

SAM Color Threshold Tester 1'.2 18.9 

Titmus Plate 47.2 60.8 

Signal Light Gun Test at Night 0.8 

8 
pg

g

gun test under both daytime and nighttime conditions (see Table 2). 

Secondly, the difference in illumination (i.e., 

darkness or daylight conditions) in administration of the Farnsworth Lantern did not significantly affect its ability to predict performance 

on signal light gun tests. In general, the tests 

which require the recognition of colored lights 

(i.e., the Farnsworth Lantern and the SA::\1 Color 

Threshold Tester) are good predictors of performance on the signal light gun. Also, the revised version ( 1965) of the American Optical 

test was found to be Yery similar to the 1940 

A 0 edition and to the Dvorine Plates in pre

py y 

of ability to pass the signal light gun requir

ments, provided that the tests are given und

the recommended illuminant and according 

the in:3tructions accompanying each set of plate

Finally, the data of this study support earli

findings 11 ; variations in some aspects of exper

mental design did not appreciably change an

of the qualitatiYe results. However, the additio

to the test population of a substantial number 

color normals produced generally higher p

coefficients, lower miss rates, and lower fal

alarm rates than previously reported11 for mo

of these clinical tests. 

REFERENCES 

1. Crawford, A.: The Dvorine Pseudo-Isochromatic 

Plates, BRITISH .TOPR~AL OF PSYCHOLOGY, 

4G :139-143, 1955. 

2. Farnsworth, D.: The Farnsworth-:\Iunsell 100-hue 

and Dichotomous Tests for Color Vision, JOURNAL 

OF THE OPTICAL SOCIETY OF Al\IETIICA, 

33 :568-578, 1943. 

3. Farnsworth, D., and P .. Foreman: Development and 

Trial of the Xew London Xav~· Lantern as a Selection Test for Serviceable Color Vision. Bu:\Ied 

Project X-457 (AV-241-K), Color Vision Report ~o. 

12, L.S. Submarine Base, Xew London, Connecticut, 

:\lay 194G. 

4. Federal Aviation Administration: Guide for Aviation :\ledical Examiners, Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Office of 

Aviation :\ledicine, June 1970. 

5. Hardy, L. H., G. Rand, and 1\f. C. Rittler: A Screening Test for Defective Red-Green Yision, JOURXAL 

OF THE OPTICAL SOCIETY OF Al\IERICA, 

3G :610-614, 1946. 

6. Judd, D. B.: The 1931 I.C.I. Standard Observer and 

Coordinate System for Colorimetry, JOT..'RXAL OF 

THE OPTICAL SOCIETY OF A:\IERICA, 23 :359-

374, 1933. 

9 

7. Lewis, M. F., and J. A. S·teen: Colour Defecti

Yision and the Recognition of Aviation Colour S

nal Light Flashes. Proceedings of the Internation

Symposium on the Perception and Application 

Flashing Lights, London, 1971. 

8. Linksz, A. : lin Rssav on Color Vision and Clinic

Color-Vision Tests, Xew York, Greene and Stratto

1DG4. 

9. Rowland, L. S.: Selection and Validation of Te

for Color Vision-Relationship Between Degree 

Color Deficiency and Ability to Identify Sign

from a "Biscuit Gun." School of Aviation Medici

Project Report Xo. 137-7, November 1943. 

10. Seefelt, E. n.: An Evaluation of the Validity a

Heliahility of the AOC 15-Plate Pseudo-Isochroma

Test in Houtine Testing, A:\IERICAN JOURNA

OF OPTO:\IETHY AXD ARCHIVES OF AMER

CA::\ ACADE:\IY OF OPTO:\IETRY, 41 :371-38

l9G4. 

11. Steen, .T. A., ancl :\1. F. Lewis: Color Defective Visi

and Day ancl Xight Recognition of Aviation Co

Signal Light Flashes, AEHOSP ACE MEDICIN

43 :34-3G, 1972. 

12. Titmus Optical Co., Inc.: Titmus Vision Test

Aeromedical :\Iodel, Heference Manual, 1969. 
F 

A. 0. Co.-

1940 

p 

Appendix 

Contingency tables showing the percentages of subjects who passed (P) 

and failed (F) the ,-a·rious combinations of clinical and practical tests. Phi 

coefficients (0) for day and night conditions are also shown. 

DAY NIGHT 

Signal Gun Test Signal Gun Test 

p F p F 

I 

.091 . 223 .314 F .226 .087 

A. O. Co.-

1940 

.687 .000 .687 p .687 .000 

.778 .223 . 913 .087 

el = .79* el = .46 * 

N = 265 

*Correlations are significant at the .01 level. 

.31

.68

Frm:RE 1. Contingency tables and phi coefficients for the signal light gun test and the A.O.Co. plates (1940 ed

tion). 

11 
A.O.Co.-

1965 

F 

p 

Signal Gun Test 

p 

.102 

.675 

.777 

F 

.223 

.000 

.223 

.77 * 

.325 

.675 

A.O. Co.-

1965 

N = 265 

*Correlations are significant at the .01 level. 

F 

p 

Signal Gun Test 

p F 

.238 .087 

.675 .000 

.913 .087 

0 . 44 * 

.325 

.675 

FIGVRE 2. Contingency tables and phi coefficients for the ~ig-nal light gu n te~t ancl the A.O.Co. plates (1!)6:) edi· 

tion). 

F 

ANOMALOSCOPE 

p 

DAY 

Signal Gun Test 

p 

.253 

.525 

.778 

F 

.223 

.000 

.223 

.56* 

.476 F 

ANOMALOSCOPE 

.525 p 

N = 265 

*Correlations are significant at the .01 level . 

NIGHT 

Signal Gun Test 

p F 

.389 .087 .476 

.525 .000 .525 

.914 .087 

e> .32 * 

FIGV RE 3. Contin gency tables and phi coefficients for the ,;ig-na l li ght gun test and the anomaloscope. 

12 
Signal Gun Test Sig nal Gun Test 

p F p F 

F .057 .185 .242 F .162 .079 .24 

DVORINE DVORIN E 

p .72 1 .038 .759 p . 751 .008 .759 

.778 .223 . 913 .087 

el = .74 * el = .48 * 

N = 265 

*Correlation s are signi ficant at the .0 1 level. 

Fwcm: 4. Contingency tables and phi coetlkients for the ;:ignal light gun te:st and the Dvorine plates. 

DAY NIGHT 

Signal Gun Test Signal Gun Test 

p F p F 

F .158 .192 .350 F .268 .083 .351 

100-HUE 100-HUE 

p .619 .030 .649 p .645 . 004 .64

.777 .222 .913 .087 

el = .58* QJ = .39* 

N = 265 

* Correlations are significant at the .01 level . 

FIGURE 5. Contingency tables and phi coefficients for the signal light gun test and the Farnsworth 100-hue te

13 

L 
Signal Gun Test 

p F 

F .060 .204 .264 

FARNSWORTH FARNSWORTH 

LANTERN- LANTERNLIGHT LIGHT 

p .717 .019 .736 

.777 .223 

0 = .79 * 

N = 265 

*Correlations ore significant at the .01 level. 

F 

p 

Signal 

p 

. 177 

.736 

.913 

0 

Gun Test 

F 

.087 

.000 

.087 

.52* 

.264 

.736 

FIGURE 6. Co ntin~en<: y table;; and phi <:oefii<:ients for the ,.:i;:mal li ~ht gun test and the Farnsworth Lantern test 

administered in the light. 

FARNSWORTH 

LANTERNDARK 

F 

p 

DAY 

Signal Gun Test 

p F 

.049 .196 

.728 .026 

.7T! .222 

0 = • 79* 

.245 

.754 

FARNSWORTH 

LANTERNDARK 

N = 265 

*Correlations ore significant at the .01 level. 

NIGHT 

Signal Gun Test 

p F 

F .162 .083 .245 

p .751 .004 .755 

.913 .087 

0 = .51* 

FIGURE 7. Contingem·~· tahl e>< and phi coefficients for the signal light gun test and the Farsnworth Lantern test 

administered in the dark. 

14 
Signal Gun Test Signal Gun Tesf 

p F p F 

F .060 .158 .218 F .151 .068 .21

0- 15 --------~------~ D-15 

p .717 .064 .781 p .762 .019 . 7

L---------L-------~ 

.777 .222 . 913 .087 

0 = .64 * 0 = .42 * 

N = 265 

*Correlations are significant at the .01 level. 

~IGl:RE 8. Contingency tables and phi coefficients for the ~i~nal light ~un test and the Farnsworth Panel D-15 te

DAY NIGHT 

Signal Gun Tesf Signal Gun Tesf 

p F p F 

r-------~--------~ 

F .072 .204 .276 F .189 .087 .27

SAMCTT r--------+--------~ SAMCTT 

p .706 .019 .725 p .725 .000 .72

L-------~---------J 

.778 .223 .914 .087 

0 = • 77 * 0 = .50* 

N = 265 

*Correlations are significant of fhe .01 level. 

FIGURE 9. Contingency tables and phi coefficients for the signal light gun test and the Color .Threshold Teste

15 
F 

TIT MUS 

p 

Signal Gun Test 

p 

.472 

.306 

.778 

F 

.223 

.000 

.223 

.36 * 

.695 

TITMUS 

.306 

N = 265 

*Correlations ore significant at the .01 level. 

F 

p 

Signal Gun Test 

p 

.608 

.306 

.914 

F 

.087 

.000 

.087 

.20 * 

.695 

.306 

Fwnn; JO. f'ontingen<"~· tahles and phi coefficients for thP ~ig-nal light gun test and the Titmus Plate. 

DAY 

Signal Gun Test 

p F 

F .008 .079 .087 

NIGHT 

Signal Gun Test 

p .770 .143 .913 

.778 .222 

0 .51 * 

N = 265 

*Correlations are significant at the .01 level. 

FIGuRE 11. Contingency table and phi coefficient for t he signal light gun test 

mlminbtere<l under da~· :11111 ni ght <:omlitions. 

16 

32563