THE STUDT FOUNDATION
Presents it's 172nd Practicum on
Neuro / Behavioral / Developmental Optometry / Vision Therapy
Sunday, February 22, 2026
The Enhancement of Attention and Memory by Developing Refined Experience
Carl Hillier, OD, FOVDR
This lecture presents a comprehensive model of vision that extends far beyond eyesight, emphasizing vision’s role in deriving meaning, predicting future events, and guiding movement. The speaker explains how the body and environment collaborate—through gravity, movement, sensory integration, spatial confidence, and abstract thought—to support these purposes.
A major focus is visual attention, broken down into focused, selective, sustained, alternating, and simultaneous attention. Both neurological and environmental influences are explored, including the roles of the frontal lobes, sensory discrimination (JNDs), and priming. The lecture reviews tests commonly used to assess attention, such as CVAT, TOVA, and Trail Making Test.
The second key domain is memory, framed with standard psychological classifications including short-term/working memory, long-term memory (episodic and semantic), and explicit vs. implicit learning. The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve is used to highlight the natural decline of memory over time and the need for reinforcement.
Two detailed case studies—a six-year-old boy with significant attention and memory difficulties, and an eight-year-old girl struggling with reading—demonstrate how targeted visual training can dramatically improve functional outcomes. Both children benefited from activities such as the Multi-Matrix Game, Percon III, concept pieces, parquetry blocks, accommodative training, binocular activities, spatial transformations, and Hart chart fixations.
Carl Hillier, OD, FOVDR
Dr. Carl Hillier graduated from the University of California San Diego in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. He received a Bachelor of Science degree at Pacific University in 1980 and then graduated as a Doctor of Optometry in 1982. He received his Fellowship to COVD in 1986.
Prior to graduation, he helped establish mobile clinics in rural Honduras, and upon his graduation, he was given direct appointment as a lieutenant in the United States Navy Medical Service Corps. He was stationed at Balboa Naval Hospital, San Diego, where he directed the Vision Therapy Clinic.
He is an adjunct clinical professor at the Southern California College of Optometry, Illinois College of Optometry, Western University School of Health Sciences: College of Optometry, and the International College of Optometry in Madrid Spain. He worked with the United States Volleyball teams for 10 years and provides sports vision training with key players on the San Diego Padres Baseball Team.
In 1992 Dr. Hillier helped develop the Vision Rehabilitation Clinic at the San Diego Rehabilitation Institute at Alvarado Hospital. He lectures in Spain, England, Mexico and Canada on topics related to vision and vestibular function in children and adults. He developed the Multi-Matrix an activity that nurtures physiological, perceptual and cognitive development.
He has been honored by the American Optometric Association as Sports Optometrist Of The Year, and by the College of Optometrists in Vision Development by receiving the Getman Award, its highest award for clinical excellence.
Continuing Education Credit: 5 Hours
| Date/Time/Location: | 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM Lecture- HEC Lecture Hall, 1 st Floor, WUCO 12:00 Noon to 1:00 PM Lunch provided by Studt Foundation 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM Lecture- HEC Lecture Hall Western University College of Optometry 795 E. 2 nd St. Pomona, CA 91766 Auto Parking in patient parking structure on corner of Towne and Second |
| Fees: | Students/Residents: $15.00 Therapists & Assistants: $35.00 Optometrists: $50.00 |
| Registration: | Register Here |
The Studt Foundation VT lectures are designed to provide broader insight and practical knowledge within the area of behavioral vision care. The goal of the foundation is to present optometric students and practitioners with a more in-depth appreciation of the significance of vision therapy's role in serving the community's vision care needs in a full scope optometric practice.
Implementing behavioral vision care into one's practice provides yet another effective treatment modality in addressing the visual problems that are common in today's highly visual work environment.
Dedicated to promoting vision therapy worldwide - founded in 1975 by Walter Studt, O.D. & Donald Studt, O.D.
GOOD VISION IS MORE THAN SEEING 20/20, IT'S SEEING WITHOUT EFFORT
c/o Albert Chun, O.D., 3537 Torrance Blvd., Suite 18, Torrance, CA 90503 • 310.543.3555 • www.studtfoundation.org