Our eyes deviate away from a location where a distractor is expected to appear.
Previous research has shown that in order to make an accurate saccade to a target object, nearby distractor objects need to be inhibited. The extent to which saccade trajectories deviate away from a distractor is often considered to be an index of the strength of inhibition. The present study shows that the mere expectation that a distractor will appear at a specific location is enough to generate saccade deviations away from this location. This suggests that higher-order cognitive processes such as top-down expectancy interact with low-level structures involved in eye movement control. The results will be discussed in the light of current theories of target selection and possible neurophysiological correlates.
Van der Stigchel
Stefan
S
Department of Cognitive Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. S.Van.der.Stigchel@psy.vu.nl
Theeuwes
Jan
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005364:Field Dependence-Independence; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological; D013997:Time Factors; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*