Skimming lists of food ingredients printed in different brightness contrasts

Abstract

76 29-72 yr. old Ss searched for particular words in lists of ingredients printed on white paper, reflectance 85%, in ink with densities of 1.3, .4, .2, and .1 (reflectances 4, 34, 53, and 68%). The print was 6-pt lower-case Univers with .6-pt leading. There were 4 sets each of 15 lists. A 4 * 4 factorial design was used that confounded list difficulty with order. In separate experiments the lighting was 40 and 2 ft-c. There were large drops (p< .01) in the rate of locating ingredients when the density of the ink decreased from .4 to .1. Increasing the density from .4 to 1.3 had no reliable effect (p >.05). 2 Ss failed to locate any ingredients in the poor light when the density of the ink was .1. It is concluded that ingredients printed in 6-pt lower-case Univers on white paper should have an ink density of at least .4. The contrast ratio between the ink and the paper is then at least 60%; the relative brightness ratio is at least 2.5:1. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)