INTENSITY DISCRIMINATION IN THE HUMAN EYE

Abstract

New measurements of the brightness difference sensibility of the eye corroborate the data of previous workers which show that ΔI/I decreases as I increases. Contrary to previous report, ΔI/I does not normally increase again at high intensities, but instead decreases steadily, approaching a finite limiting value, which depends on the area of the test-field and on the brightness of the surrounding field. On a logarithmic plot, the data of ΔI/I against I for test-fields below 2° are continuous, whereas those for test-fields above 2° show a sharp discontinuity in the region of intensity in which ΔI/I decreases rapidly. This discontinuity is shown to divide the data into predominantly rod function at low intensities, and predominantly cone function at high intensities. Fields below 2° give higher values of ΔI/I at all intensities, when compared with larger fields. Fields greater than one or two degrees differ from one another principally on the low intensity side of the break. Changes in area above this limit are therefore mainly effective by changing the number of rods concerned. This is confirmed by experiments controlling the relative numbers of rods and cones with lights of different wavelength and with different retinal locations. At high intensities ΔI/I is extremely sensitive to changes in brightness of surrounding visual fields, except for large test-fields which effectually furnish their own surrounds. This sensitivity is especially marked for fields of less than half a degree in diameter. Although the effect is most conspicuous for high intensities, the surround brightness seems to affect the relation between variables as a whole, except in very small fields where absence of a surround of adequate brightness results in the distortion of the theoretical relation otherwise found. The theoretical relationship for intensity discrimination derived by Hecht is shown to fit practically all of the data. Changes in experimental variables such as retinal image area, wavelength, fixation, and criterion may be described as affecting the numerical quantities of this relationship.