Abstract
In this study, we investigated when visual perception begins in fixations. During picture viewing, the picture was degraded at the beginning of selected saccades and changed back to the original after varying intervals. Participants manually responded whenever they detected changes. The change-backs were undetected when they occurred <6 msec after the end of the saccade, marked by the peak of the overshoot in dual Purkinje image eyetracker data, and detection reached asymptote 32 msec after that marker. Eye velocity at the change-backtime also affected detection likelihood. Apparently, perception begins around the time at which the eyes stop rotating at the end of a saccade, giving a psychological justification for measuring fixation durations from then. This also specifies the deadline for gaze-contingent display changes to occur without detectable image motion. Investigators using the dual PurMnje image eyetracker should consider the peak of the overshoot as the fixation onset time and measure intrafixational presentation times from then.
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This work was supported by funds from the Beckman Institute, the University of Illinois Research Board, and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory under the Federated Laboratory Program, Cooperative Agreement DAAL01 -96-2-0003. The National Institute of Mental Health provided funds for purchasing the eye-tracking equipment, and the National Science Foundation provided other essential equipment under Grant CDA 96-24396.
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McConkie, G.W., Loschky, L.C. Perception onset time during fixations in free viewing. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers 34, 481–490 (2002). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03195477
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03195477