Saccadic target selection as a function of time.
Recent evidence indicates that stimulus-driven and goal-directed control of visual selection operate independently and in different time windows (van Zoest et al., 2004). The present study further investigates how eye movements are affected by stimulus-driven and goal-directed control. Observers were presented with search displays consisting of one target, multiple non-targets and one distractor element. The task of observers was to make a fast eye movement to a target immediately following the offset of a central fixation point, an event that either co-occurred with or soon followed the presentation of the search display. Distractor saliency and target-distractor similarity were independently manipulated. The results demonstrated that the effect of distractor saliency was transient and only present for the fastest eye movements, whereas the effect of target-distractor similarity was sustained and present in all but the fastest eye movements. The results support an independent timing account of visual selection.
van Zoest
Wieske
W
Department of Cognitive Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, van der Boechorststraat 1 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands. wieske@psych.ubc.ca
Donk
Mieke
M
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology*