FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute

Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-66/38

Title and Subtitle: A homogeneous field for light adaptation.

Report Date: September 1966

Authors: Mertens HW.

Abstract: Visual judgments of size, distance, slant, etc. in the flying situation are often made under reduced cue conditions, especially during night flying. In the experimental study of spatial perception under these conditions, experiments often require long sessions in the dark and involve stimuli of low luminance allowing considerable dark adaptation to occur. The resulting change in visual sensitivity makes the control of light more difficult and increases the possibility that extraneous cues may contaminate the data. Light adaptation devices are often used to control this sensitivity but themselves may introduce extraneous cues, e.g., size and distance cues.

This report describes a light adaptation device which produces a homogeneous adaptation field without extraneous cues and which can be used easily between experimental observations even though S is in an otherwise dark observation position

Key Words: nystagmus, habituation learning, vestibular apparatus, adaptation (physiology), acceleration tolerance, stimulation (physiology), response (biology), electrophysiology.

No. of Pages: 4