Differences in stereoacuity between crossed and uncrossed disparities reduce with practice

INTRODUCTION: Stereoacuity, like many forms of hyperacuity, improves with practice. We investigated the effects of repeated measurements over multiple visits on stereoacuity using two commonly utilised clinical stereotests, for both crossed and uncrossed disparity stimuli. METHODS: Participants were adults with normal binocular vision (n = 17) aged between 18 and 50 years. Stereoacuity was measured using the Randot and TNO stereotests on five separate occasions over a six week period. We utilised both crossed and uncrossed stimuli to separately evaluate stereoacuity in both disparity directions. A subset of the subject group also completed a further five visits over an additional six week period. Threshold stereoacuity was determined by the lowest disparity level at which the subjects could correctly identify both the position and disparity direction (crossed or uncrossed) of the stimulus. Data were analysed by repeated measures analysis of variance. RESULTS: Stereoacuity for crossed and uncrossed stimuli improved significantly across the first five visits (F (1,21) = 4.24, p = 0.05). The main effect of disparity direction on stereoacuity was not significant (F (1) = 0.02, p = 0.91). However, a significant interaction between disparity direction and stereotest was identified (F (1) = 7.92, p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Stereoacuity measured with both the TNO and Randot stereotests improved significantly over the course of five repetitions. Although differences between crossed and uncrossed stereoacuity were evident, they depended on the stereotest used and reduced or disappeared after repeated measurements. A single measure of stereoacuity is inadequate for properly evaluating adult stereopsis clinically.