On Wed, 22 Aug 2001, Michael Sylvester wrote:
>
> does the correlation still hold that students and profs that wear glasses
> tend to be above average in intelligence than those who don't?
> I am not sure about contact lenses?
Surprisingly, yes. We discussed this back around the end of July
last year, and I posted a note on July 24th, 2000 about it.
There's a significant relationship between myopia
(nearsightedness) and variables such as IQ, educational
attainment, and amount of time spent reading. The smarter you
are, or the greater your education, or the more time you spend
studying, the more myopic you are. And vice versa. Me, I'm so
nearsighted I can only see behind me.
And for once the correlation seems to be causal. Nerdish
activities promote elongation of the eyeball, a primary cause of
myopia. This was established in studies where rats were forced to
read the speeches of George Bush and Jean Chretien until they
could no longer see well enough to solve mazes. Predictably,
animal rightists protested, not because of the harm to vision but
because no animal should be subjected to that kind of abuse.
The references I gave last time around:
Wiesel, T. & Raviola, E. (1988?) The mystery of myopia. The
Sciences, p. 46 [sorry, still missing a proper reference for
this]
Kolata, G. (1985). What causes nearsightedness? Science, 229,
1249--
Teasdale, T. et al (1988). Degree of myopia in relation to
intelligence and educational level. The Lancet, 1351--
Kinge B., Midelfart, A. [love that name], et al. (2000). The
influence of near-work on development of myopia among
university students. Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica, 78,
26--
-Stephen
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Stephen Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470
Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661
Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Lennoxville, QC
J1M 1Z7
Canada Department web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy
Check out TIPS listserv for teachers of psychology at:
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