Abstract
Introduction The limited research available suggests there are ethnicity-related differences in human colour vision, affecting cone spectral sensitivities and prevalence of different cone types in the retina (cone ratios). Despite the volume of colour vision research, many articles fail to account for ethnicity-related individual differences. This may have practical implications for the conclusions we can draw from current findings.
Aims
Investigate the demographics of previous colour vision research
Investigate the frequency of ethnicity reporting in colour vision research
Summarise findings of ethnicity-related individual differences found in previous colour vision research
Methods Relevant colour vision articles were selected using a list of defined keywords on Scopus. These articles were categorised and summarised based on relevant features, including ethnicity reporting. Descriptive statistics were calculated and relevant findings were discussed.
Results Most research publications fail to report their participants’ ethnicities. Those that do are often clinical and colour vision is not their primary focus. The majority of articles that do investigate ethnicity-related differences use colour vision deficiency rates as their outcome measure.
Conclusion Although there is ample research on colour vision globally, very few articles consider demographic differences, especially within colour-normal populations. Biases in recruitment and reporting may have practical implications for technologies that assume a standard observer across global populations.
Acknowledgements UKRI Physics of Life (EPSRC and the Wellcome Trust): EP/W02873/1; The Wellcome Trust: 218657/Z/19/A; Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford
