Purpose To investigate the effect of ‘training’ the patients' near vision and motivating them towards a spectacle-independent outcome on near vision performance in pseudophakic patients with standard intraocular lens (IOL). Design Prospective randomized, controlled, examiner-masked clinical trial. Methods Eighty eyes of 40 patients with standard cataract surgery were randomly assigned to a “motivated” or “control” group. In the motivated group, subjects were told that they are taking part in a special protocol to improve their near-reading ability after cataract surgery and were instructed not to use reading glasses for at least three months and received cycloplegic eye drops for 10 days after surgery. Follow-up examinations at three months included best-corrected distance visual acuity (VA), distance-corrected near VA, best-corrected near VA, assessment of the defocus curve, and reading speed, as well as pilocarpine-, cyclopentolate- and nearpoint-induced IOL shift assessed with partial coherence interferometry. Additionally, a questionnaire evaluating patients' postoperative satisfaction, independency of reading glasses, and daily-life performance without glasses was carried out three months and one year postoperatively. Results No difference in reading ability and IOL shift between “motivated” and “control” patients could be detected. However, the motivated patients were less dependent on reading glasses and their ability to be able to perform activities of daily life without glasses was significantly better. Conclusion There was no improvement of ciliary body function in pseudophakic patients with a special training protocol. However, near vision training made patients more independent of reading glasses.