title: When do you look where you look? A visual field asymmetry.
abstract: Pre-saccadic fixation durations associated with saccades directed in different directions were compared in three endogenous-attention oriented saccadic scanning tasks (i.e. visual search and scene viewing). Pre-saccadic fixation durations were consistently briefer before the execution of upward saccades, than downward saccades. Saccades also had a higher probability of being directed upwards than downwards. Pre-saccadic fixation durations were symmetric and longer for horizontally-directed saccades. The vertical visual field asymmetry in pre-saccadic fixation durations reflects an influence of factors not directly related to currently fixated elements. The ability to predict pre-saccadic fixation durations is important for computational modelling of real-time saccadic scanning, and the findings make a case for including directional constraints in computational modelling of when the eyes move.
authors.affiliation: University of Detroit Mercy, United States. Electronic address: greenehh@udmercy.edu.
authors.forename: Harold H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Greene
authors.affiliation: University of Georgia, United States.
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: University of Detroit Mercy, United States.
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dauphin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology*; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Eye movements; Fixation duration; Saccade direction