Responses of myopes to volitional control training of accommodation

Twelve young, low myopes were trained to control volitionally their accommodation responses and to achieve clear focus on visual targets moved progressively outward in optical distance. The trainees participated in from 15 to 40 daily training sessions (mean = 28 sessions). All demonstrated volitional control with varying degrees of control authority. Though three of the trainees were unsuccessful, the group achieved a statistically reliable extension of their far points. Post-training optometric examinations were reliably improved over pre-training examinations, but did not appear to be commensurate with the large gains in far-point extension. It was hypothesized that the learned skill may have been 'instrument-specific', i.e. it might not fully generalize to significantly improved post-training binocular performance unless it were accompanied by clinical assistance to transfer the training.