Abstract
We investigated the nature of episodic object representations (“object files”), and the development of such representations over time, within a transsaccadic preview paradigm. While fixated on a central cross, participants viewed a preview display consisting of two objects located above and below a peripheral cross. One of the preview objects was a familiar object, while the other was a non-object. Participants initiated a saccade to the peripheral cross, either immediately upon the appearance of the preview display (no-delay condition), or after a 1500 ms delay. During the saccade, the preview display was replaced by a target display, consisting of a single familiar object in one of the previewed locations; the participant's task was to name the object as quickly as possible after the eyes landed. The target object's identity, location, and left-right orientation were manipulated. The results revealed an object-specific priming effect: that is, participants named the object more quickly when it appeared in its previewed location than when it appeared in the opposite location. Changing the object's orientation increased overall naming times in the no-delay condition, but not in the delayed condition. Surprisingly, however, orientation change did not affect object-specific priming, in either the no-delay or delayed conditions. The results suggest that, while object orientation may be represented over relatively short intervals, representations of orientation do not play a substantial role in preserving object continuity across saccades during the performance of an object naming task.
Funded by the NIH/NCRR (1P20 RR020151) and the NSF (BCS 0443998)