DEVELOPMENTAL INCREMENTS IN PERCEPTUAL ACUITY AMONG SWISS AND AMERICAN SCHOOL CHILDREN

A 30-item perceptual acuity series including 25 well-known geometric illusions was administered by means of lantern slides to 333 Swiss and 732 American 8-16 yr. old school children. Using a previously validated weighted scoring method, correlations with age of +.21 and +.22 for the Swiss and American samples were found; sex differences were not significant. Of 12 possible comparisons (6 country) between adjacent subsamples by age, 8 revealed higher scores for the older group. Of 5 possible year-by-year cross-national comparisons, the largest mean difference was .50 and the smallest .03. It is concluded that the Perceptual Acuity Test (1) assesses a significant developmental function, and (2) offers promise as a measure for use in cross-cultural research. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.