Variability and systematic differences in normal, protan, and deutan color naming

Abstract

The congenital color vision deficient (CVD) generally demonstrates difficulties in color naming tasks. In our study we investigated color naming properties and uncertainties of a relatively large group of red-green CVDs using quasi monochromatic stimuli and seven basic color terms. The results show a large variability in color naming for the CVD when contrasted to normal color vision and similar alterations when comparing protans to deutans. Statistically significant differences were found in specific wavelength ranges between the tested groups. In general, protans and deutans have shown better color naming ability than expected, which suggests the use of non-chromatic visual cues.