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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 2, 2026

Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity

Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity

Published on: March 18, 2019

Reinforcing saccadic amplitude variability.

Céline Paeye¹, Laurent Madelain

¹Université Charles De Gaulle Lille III, Domaine universitaire du Pont de Bois, BP 149 59653 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France.

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

|May 5, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Saccadic endpoint variability can be learned through operant conditioning, challenging the notion of purely random neural noise. This study demonstrates that reinforcement can shape saccadic amplitude distributions.

Keywords:

humans motor control ocular saccade operant selection shaping variability

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Using Saccadometry with Deep Brain Stimulation to Study Normal and Pathological Brain Function

Using Saccadometry with Deep Brain Stimulation to Study Normal and Pathological Brain Function

Published on: July 14, 2016

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 2, 2026

Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity

Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity

Published on: March 18, 2019

Using Saccadometry with Deep Brain Stimulation to Study Normal and Pathological Brain Function

Using Saccadometry with Deep Brain Stimulation to Study Normal and Pathological Brain Function

Published on: July 14, 2016

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Science
Oculomotor Research

Background:

Saccadic endpoint variability is traditionally attributed to neural noise during sensorimotor processing.
An alternative hypothesis suggests that operant learning may contribute to this variability.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether saccadic endpoint variability can be modified through operant learning.
To determine if reinforcement of specific saccadic amplitudes influences distribution variability.

Main Methods:

Two experiments were conducted where participants received auditory reinforcement based on saccadic amplitude.
Experiment 1 involved reinforcing low-frequency amplitudes to increase variability, then central amplitudes to decrease it.
Experiment 2 compared a reinforcement group with a yoked control group to assess contingency effects.

Main Results:

Experimental participants successfully doubled their saccadic amplitude standard deviations without significant changes in medians.
Reinforcing reduced variability led to a return to baseline levels.
Control groups showed no consistent changes in saccadic amplitude distributions.

Conclusions:

Saccadic endpoint variability is demonstrably modifiable through operant reinforcement, challenging the stochastic neural noise theory.
These findings suggest that selection processes actively constrain saccadic amplitude distributions, rather than random noise being the sole determinant.