New England College of Optometry - Scope Yearbook (Boston, MA)

Page 12 text:

R OPTICAL CO., INC. GENEVA. N. Y. Since 1864 ll lCIlIIflIg'III.lIl11l- fncluwr of Slylrd Eyvzuear, Qualify Beyond Question Lenses and Lens Proccssin EQllf1Jl'H.6'IIf for Hu' Optical L,IlbOTlIlO7'lV

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fbeuelapmenl' af 'Uiftian New Haven, Conn.-A ten-year project at Yale University reveals for the first time the detailed development ol vision in infants and children. The project, which is headed by Dr. Arnold Gesell, prominent authority in the field of child behavior, has produced findings that established a new approach to the prob- lems of child vision. These findings show that the child is never a miniature adult even in his visual equipment, according to the report. It should not be necessary to wait until belated adolescent years to determine the efficiency of his visual functions. The results of the investigations are re- ported in a new book, Vision, Its Develop- ment in Infant and Child, published by Paul Hoeber. Inc., the medical book depart- ment of Harper and Brothers. The authors are Dr. Gesell, Dr. Frances L. Ilg, and Glen- na E. Bullis. Their research was supported by a grant from the American Optical Com- pany of Southbridge, Mass. Their information was collected through clinical examinations carried on during the past ten years. The normal visual functions in their relation to the total action system of the child were studied at a score of ad- vancing age levels from early infancy to the tenth year. In general, about 50 children were investigated at each age level. The authors used a variety of tests and observation procedures in recording infor- mation about children. Included among these were regular clinical examinations. the graded tests of visual skills. optometric meas- urements, and the retinoscope. As in their past work with child behavior. Dr. Gesell and his associates have recorded the development of behavior patterns. and these findings have been analyzed and com- pared from age to age and from child to child to define growth trends in vision. Their findings demonstrate that vision is profoundly integrated with the total action system of the child-his posture, his manual skills and motor attitudes, his intelligence, and even personality make-up. The child sees not with his eyes but with his whole be- ing. fhe Yale report points out that during the fetal period of the infant, important develop- ments in the organization of eyes and brains are taking place in anticipation of the act of seeing, and fetal eyes move beneath sealed lids several months prior to birth. Birth marks the arrival but not the be- ginning of the individual, the authors write. Although the newborn infant stares vaguely into far away space, his structural visual world begins in the near vicinity of his eyes. It is a plastic domain which he manipu- lates in terms of the nascent powers of his growing action system. The supine infant. the run-about infant, the sedentary school child, each has his own space-world with a distinctive set of planes to regard. The Yale researchers have established a new approach to problems of child vision and they give it the name development optics. This new approach is concerned both in the- ory and application with the growth and or- ganization of visual functions of the child in relation to the total action system of the hu- man body. The authors believe that this emphasis on the development of the visual functions of the child will broaden the scope and goal of visual hygiene. A'The conservation of vision has become a problem of vast social dimensions and calls for a better understanding of child vision on the part of teachers and pediatricians, Dr. Gesell states. HOur culture is making un- reasonable demands upon many young chil- dren. Our whole technology and education place a relentless premium upon an alert. accurate, and swift vision. lVe are in a look- QPleasc turn to page 12D PAGE NINE

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Good Light and Good Eyes Must Be Partners Samuel G. Hibben Director of Apjnlierl Liglzting Il C'SffllglIOllSL' Electric Corporation, Bloonzfielfl, N. j. Modern seeing tasks usually demand a greater expenditure of seeing energy and place a greater burden upon the visual or- gans. This comes about through longer hours spent under artificial illumination: from the changing and flickering types of backgrounds and of objects in the field of view: from the high speed tempo of modern living and from the needs of keen visual acuity both at work and at play. There have been many changes in arti- ficial illuminants and in their methods of application in this decade. Today's light sources are generally capable of producing a greater volume of light and while in them- selves they are usually not brighter per unit area than in former days yet they are used in greater abundance and consequently may re- quire better shielding and shading and a more careful control of the direction of the light. Also today's lamps are capable of pro- ducing a wide variety of colors and they may even possess different qualities of radiation. including the infrared and ultraviolet ener- gies. Every optometrist knows that the eye is a wonderfully adaptable organ, capable of reg- istering the sensation of vision over a tre- mendous range from at least that of full June sunlight of 10,000 footcandles on the target. to the detection of a candle flame seen at the distance of 10 miles. NVe recall that in lf1000 of a second the eye can detect a light source and that in spite of this speed of ac- tion, the human eye is quite similar to the camera in that the pupillary opening may change its area over a range of l to 16 and that the eye may take either time-exposure pictures or instantaneous snapshot pictures. depending upon the illumination of the tar- get. Also we recall that at the age of 20 the area of the pupil may be double what it is at the age of 60, plus many other changes and variations all of which should be ap- praised along with the quantity and quality of the light required. The eye is perhaps to a dangerously large degree an uncornplaining organ. WVe do not know definitely just what physiological changes occur after months or years of seeing under bad illumination but there certainly is satisfying evidence that good lighting can relieve much of the strain and much of the discomfort of seeing and that bad lighting aggravates almost all of the deficiencies of the eye. The best eyes in the world cannot do a good job without good illumination. By good illumination we mean: l. Sufficient footcandles for an ordinary target, generally on the order of at least 25 to 50 for reading common type and printing or upwards of 10 for viewing large stationary objects. Very fine and very dark objects may require considerably more footcandles. 2. The brightness of the target must be considered, meaning that not only should the illumination falling upon it be adequate, but that its ability to reflect light is ample. In this connection comfortable vision suggests a contrast ratio of brightness as between the immediate task and its surrounding back- ground of not much greater than 3 to l. 3. Almost axiomatically the light should be steady and the target or the task should not vibrate or fluctuate in brightness. At least the quantity of light should not change more rapidly than can the pupillary opening. 4. Common glare such as from bare or badly shielded lamp bulbs or from brilliant PAGE ELEVEN