About the influence of post-saccadic mechanisms for visual stability on peri-saccadic compression of object location

Peri-saccadic perception experiments have revealed a multitude of mislocalization phenomena. For instance, a briefly flashed stimulus is perceived closer to the saccade target, whereas a displacement of the saccade target goes usually unnoticeable. This latter saccadic suppression of displacement has been explained by a built-in characteristic of the perceptual system: the assumption that during a saccade, the environment remains stable. We explored whether the mislocalization of a briefly flashed stimulus toward the saccade target also grounds in the built-in assumption of a stable environment. If the mislocalization of a peri-saccadically flashed stimulus originates from a post-saccadic alignment process, an additional location marker at the position of the upcoming flash should counteract compression. Alternatively, compression might be the result of peri-saccadic attentional phenomena. In this case, mislocalization should occur even if the position of the flashed stimulus is marked. When subjects were asked about their perceived location, they mislocalized the stimulus toward the saccade target, even though they were fully aware of the correct stimulus location. Thus, our results suggest that the uncertainty about the location of a flashed stimulus is not inherently relevant for compression.