Clinical therapy for accommodative responses: transfer effects upon performance

A clinical therapy program featuring accommodative training was administered to a group of children with diagnosed disorders of accommodative function. The children ranged in age from six to twelve years. A group of subjects representing the same clinical population, and not differing significantly in age or grade level, acted as a control group. The control subjects participated in a therapy program of a similar duration, wherein perceptual-motor training (unrelated to the training of accommodative skills) was administered. A nearpoint pencil-and-paper task was administered to all subjects before and after the training programs, to assess changes in performance as a criterion of learning transfer and behavioral generalization. A significantly greater decrease in errors occurred in the group receiving the accommodative training as contrasted to the control group. No significant differences were found in the time scores. The results suggest that accommodative training, for children with diagnosed accommodative disorders, has transfer effects upon nearpoint performance relating to improved accuracy.