Visual acuity development: a study of preterm and full-term infants.

Visual acuity was measured in both preterm and full-term infants by means of forced-choice preferential looking. The ages of infants tested ranged from one month to 12 months. The results of both groups were considered and compared in terms of natal and conceptional age. The data suggested that preterm infants show visual responses equivalent to their full-term counterparts by nine months of age. Trends indicate that visual acuity development in healthy preterm infants appears to be accelerated when compared with full-term infants of the same post-conceptional age.