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Landmarks facilitate visual space constancy across saccades and during fixation
Heiner Deubel1, Carmen Koch, Bruce Bridgeman
1Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München, Germany. deubel@psy.uni-muenchen.de
Vision Research
|October 17, 2009
Summary
Visual landmarks aid eye movement space constancy. This study shows blanked objects are perceived as moving, especially with longer delays, even during fixation, revealing shared visual mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
Background:
- Visual objects after saccadic eye movements act as landmarks for stimulus localization.
- Landmark effects facilitate spatial constancy across saccades.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate temporal conditions for landmark effects post-saccade.
- Examine landmark effects during visual fixation.
- Understand visual mechanisms underlying spatial constancy.
Main Methods:
- Two peripheral objects presented; observers saccaded between them.
- One object disappeared during saccade, reappearing with variable delay.
- Objects jumped, and observers judged movement direction.
- Onset asynchrony and blanking duration manipulated.
Main Results:
- Strong bias to perceive blanked objects as moving, irrespective of actual movement.
- Shorter blanking duration led to perceived stability when both objects blanked.
- Effects intensified with increased onset asynchrony.
- Similar, weaker effects observed during fixation.
Conclusions:
- Visual landmark effects are robust across saccadic eye movements.
- Perceptual bias favors attributing motion to temporarily absent stimuli.
- Shared visual mechanisms likely operate during both saccades and fixation for spatial awareness.
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