Jet pilot, helicopter pilot, and college student: a comparison of central vision

Jet pilots (JP) (N = 44), helicopter pilots (HP) (N = 29), and college students (CS) (N = 41) were tested with a battery of vision tests designed to assess vision skills important for success as a naval aviator. Tests included measures of reaction time, high-contrast acuity, low-contrast acuity, spot detection, far-to-near gaze shift, near-to-far gaze shift, low-contrast acuity with glare, and dark focus. A Multi-Variate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) compared the vision test performance of the three subject groups (JP, HP, and CS). Only with the Far-to-Near test was there no difference among the three groups. On all other tests, JP outperformed CS. The difference between HP and CS was less consistent and less dramatic than the difference between JP and CS. Only with the glare test were CS significantly better than HP. The results were interpreted as reflecting the influence of various selection factors, operational requirements, differential attrition, and age.