New Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue test norms of normal observers for each year of age 5-22 and for age decades 30-70

Aims: To provide normative data for chromatic discrimination on the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue test particularly for observers under 23 years of age.

Methods: Normal observers were screened for congenital colour vision deficiencies using the Ishihara test leaving 382 observers.

Results: New total error score (TES) norms (means and 95th percentiles) are presented for each year of age from 5-22 and for 10 year age groups from the 30s to the 70s. These norms are presented as actual values (TES) and also as square root values (rootTES). Other data include partial error scores for red-green and blue-yellow axes discrimination.

Conclusion: This study provides the most detailed set of normative data to date. The data are also in agreement with other reports of chromatic discrimination, showing that the performance in this task varies as a U-shape function with age, the best being achieved at 19 years of age.