A study examined associations between bilateral visual acuity and depression among 391 Cuban Americans, 1,514 Mexican Americans, and 527 Puerto Ricans. Among Mexicans, depression was higher for those with moderate and greater impairment. Among Cubans, depression was higher for those with a distance visual acuity worse than 20/50. (Contains…

Studies have suggested attention-free semantic processing of natural scenes in which concurrent tasks leave category detection unimpaired (e.g., F. Li, R. VanRullen, C. Koch, & P. Perona, 2002). Could this ability reflect detection of disjunctive feature sets rather than high-level binding? Participants detected an animal target in a rapid serial…

A U.S. Air Force study was designed to investigate simultaneously four cognitive styles--field dependence-independence, reflectivity-impulsivity, leveling-sharpening, and visual-haptics. A sample of 206 undergraduate volunteers at the University of Oklahoma were tested with the Successive Perceptual Test I (SPT-I), the Hidden Figures Test (HFT),…

A 3-year study concerning teaching a phonics-oriented kindergarten readiness program of letter recognition and beginning consonant sounds was discussed. Sixty-eight children attending kindergarten in a suburban middle and upper-middle class community composed the sample. The experimental group consisted of 33 children; the control group consisted…

Visual fixations were recorded in newborn, 4-, and 8-week-old human infants as they scanned displays that varied in contour length, size, number, and a new metric, CVAL (based on Contour Variability, Amount and Location). One of the findings was that both contour length and CVAL separately accounted for approximatel1 95 of looking-duration…

Six hearing-impaired and 14 hearing adults, all with normal vision, viewed segments of captioned movies on television under 5 conditions of blur. The study found that, if a person has even a slight visual problem, the caption letters under normal television viewing conditions are too small for maximum reading performance. (Author/JDD)

Strabismus and amblyopia are two common childhood vision conditions requiring early identification and treatment. Screening devices include external examination of the eye, ability to track, a cover test, acuity tests, and stereoscopic tests. Treatment includes patching therapy, use of glasses, orthoptics, CAM vision stimulator, or a combination…

The visual acuity of 8 children, aged 2-7, with low vision and multiple handicaps was effectively tested using the Teller Acuity Cards and a preferential-looking procedure with operant modification. This inexpensive procedure was found to be suitable for at-home testing by itinerant vision specialists in developing countries or rural areas. (DB)

This article describes addition of a "learn a routine" procedure to functional visual assessments of children with severe neurological and physical disabilities. The procedure capitalizes on the child's interest of the moment and provides information on the child's patterns of responses, ability to accommodate to variations of a stimulus, and…

A low vision clinic is using Fresnel press-on prism lenses to aid veterans with extremely restricted visual fields. (Author/SB)

A collection of papers on teaching English listening comprehension includes: "The Use of Authentic Sound Materials for Beginners" (Anuska Nakic); "Empathetic Listening" (Mario Rinvolucri); "The Pedagogic Authenticity of a Text" (Henri Besse); "A Team-Teaching Approach to Lecture Comprehension for Overseas Students" (A. Dudley-Evans, T. F. Johns);…

Witkin's Embedded Figures Test (EFT) was used to measure the changes with age in field dependence and problem-solving ability. Qualitative data concerning problem-solving strategies and quantitative data were collected. EFT was administered to 12 females in each of the following decades: 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s. All subjects were moderately…

Vision assessment in multiply impaired children (ages 3-19, n=50) was studied by evaluating questionnaires completed by the psychological services responsible for determining their educational requirements. Relatively few conducted assessments of visual functioning but chose instead to determine level of visual impairment from medical,…

Presents a checklist that was created so that parents, teachers, and others could obtain from vision specialists information necessary to ameliorate learning conditions efficiently. (FL)

A survey of 6,850 adults age 40 or over concerning the effects of poor vision found that difficulties with reading or other near-vision activities were the most common complaint. One-fourth reported limitations in activities because of poor vision. Factors associated with loss of visual function were general health status, educational level, and…