Certified Paraoptometric (CPO) Practice Exam 2026

Myopia is the condition where an image is focused in front of the retina, leading to difficulty seeing distant objects clearly. This occurs because the eyeball is too long, or the curvature of the cornea is too steep, which causes light rays to converge before reaching the retina. In myopia, patients typically see well up close but struggle with clarity at greater distances.

Emmetropia refers to a state of the eye where light is focused directly on the retina without any refractive error, which is the opposite of myopia. Hyperopia, or farsightedness, is when images are focused behind the retina, making it difficult to see nearby objects clearly. Presbyopia is an age-related condition that affects near vision due to the lens becoming less flexible, but it does not directly involve where an image is focused in relation to the retina in the way myopia does. Thus, myopia is indeed the correct answer to the question regarding the focus of images in front of the retina.