Abstract
Saccade execution is quite inaccurate, leading to a frequent undershoot of saccades. To compensate for this inaccuracy, the intended target is stored in working memory prior to the saccade. Object and spatial information are encoded in separate working memory storages. When the eyes do not land accurately, a visual search task is performed and guided by working memory content. Research suggests a corrective saccade could then be initiated towards the intended target, contributing to our perceived stability of the world. However, it is still unknown if both spatial and object information can independently facilitate corrective saccades. In our current study we dissociated the contribution of spatial and object information by inducing inhibition of return (IOR) in a gaze correction paradigm (Hollingworth, Richard, & Luck, 2008). In Experiment 1 we found increased latency for saccades to previously fixated objects. Corrective saccades to previously fixated objects at updated locations showed lower latency. In Experiment 2 we controlled for acquisition of surface features during initial fixation. Corrective saccades were facilitated to an IOR associated object even when surface feature information was unavailable during initial fixation. In Experiment 3 we disentangled location and object specific information by adding a second rotation to the stimulus array. We only found IOR in corrective saccades when location and object information were congruent to previously fixated object and location. We found facilitated corrective saccades when an previously fixated object was either moved to a novel location or when an IOR associated location was occupied by another object. Together these findings imply that corrective saccades are facilitated by previously fixated object and location information and that both types of information can contribute separately in correcting for gaze errors. Congruence in object and location specific information may re-engage attentional effects from a past visual scene, thus contributing to a stable world.
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2016