Scotopic Spectral Sensitivity in the Monkey

Three rhesus monkeys learned to adjust a small illuminated spot to threshold intensity. Then, while dark adapted, they "tracked" their thresholds to stimuli spaced across the visible wavelength spectrum. Spectral sensitivity functions were determined for each animal from these threshold records. The functions agreed well with results obtained from a human subject in the same apparatus, and with the standard human scotopic function defined by the International Commission on Illumination. However, the monkeys' relative sensitivity was slightly higher in the long-wavelength portion of the spectrum.