Effects of Eye Correctives on Ratings of Attractiveness

In an earlier study using a timed serial sevens subtraction task ( 2 ) , it was shown that subjects with extremely high rod-and-frame scores made significantly more errors and took significantly more time to complete their calculations than did subjects who earned low or middle numbers of errors on the rod-and-frame. The present study replicates these findings with a timed serial threes addition task. Fifty right-handed psychiatric inpatients, aged 18 to 55 yr. (average education: 12 yr.) , were administered a timed serial threes addition task and the rod-and-frame. Patients with neurological diagnoses or history of alcoholism or electroconvulsive therapy were excluded. Written consent was obtained from all participants. The rod-and-frame and serial threes were administered by two different examiners, each unaware of the subject's performance on the task administered by the other. Rod-and-frame apparatus and procedures were as described elsewhere ( 1 ) . The serial threes required the subject to count forward as quickly as possible beginning with one and adding by threes, an individual's score being either number of errors or total performance time. Rod-and-frame scores (average deviations from 0 over eight trials) ranged from .875 to 35.5. The 50 subjects were divided into the lowest ( M = 1.86, S D = .62), middle ( M = 15.26, S D = 3.42), and highest ( M = 28.51, S D = 3.94) 20% of rodand-frame error scores. Subjects in these three groups did not differ significantly from one another in terms of age, education level, or socioeconomic status. Compared with both subjects having low and middle numbers of errors on the rod-and-frame, the subjects with most errors made significantly more errors ( F z . 3 = 5.88, P < .01) and took significantly longer times (F2.n = 5.81, P < .01) co complete the calculation task. Rod-and-frame groups with medium and low errors did not differ from one another in either errors ( t = .46) or time ( t = .53) . These findings are analogous to those earlier reported using a serial sevens subtraction task ( 2 ) . They provide additional demonstration of the close relationship between calculating ability and performance on the rod-and-frame.