The aim of this work was to measure the contrast sensitivity function (CSF) for visual spatial frequencies, ranging between 0.25 and 2 cpd, in children (4, 5, 6 and 7 years old) and adults. The contrast thresholds were measured in 25 participants (twenty children and five young adults), by using the psychophysical forced-choice staircase method and low luminance. All subjects in the program were free from ocular or visual disease, thus presenting a normal visual acuity. The results showed that CSF of 4, 5, 6 and 7 year-old children improved significantly with the aging process. Moreover, it was shown that, the CSF of 7 year-old-children was lower than those of adults. Such results suggest that the development, regarding visual contrast perception for sine-wave grating stimuli increases gradually, thus, going on beyond 7 year-old.
Contrast sensitivity; visual development; forced-choice staircase method
