A critical examination of perceptual and cognitive effects attributed to full-spectrum fluorescent lighting

Full-spectrum fluorescent lighting (FSFL) has been credited with causing dr amatic improvements in vision, perception and cognitive performance as comp ared with other fluorescent lamp types. These effects are hypothesized to o ccur because of similarity between FSFL emissions and daylight, which is sa id to have evolutionary superiority over other light sources. This review, covering 1945-98, critically considers the evidence for these claims. In ge neral, poor-quality research has resulted in an absence of simple determini stic effects that can be confidently attributed to fluorescent lamp type. P romising avenues for lighting-behaviour research include investigations of cognitive mediators of lighting-behaviour relationships, and flicker rates and colour rendering effects on visual processing, appearance judgements an d affect. Good lighting solutions are more complex than lamp type specific cation.