The accommodative response of 15 myopic, 10 hypermetropic and 15 emmetropic (less than +/- 0.50 D) subjects was assessed by the laser optometer. The Snellen E target was viewed binocularly whilst the monocular response to various levels of stimuli (0 D to 5 D) was measured. The mean response/stimulus curves and resting points for each group are compared. No significant difference is present between the 3 groups. There is no correlation between a) the resting point and spectacle prescription (r = 0.20) and b) the slope of the response/stimulus curve and the spectacle prescription (r = -0.32). The effect of ametropia on the accommodative response is insignificant.