Peripheral scene context modulates task-driven saccades toward peripheral objects

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Visual Perception

Background:

• Peripheral vision aids object recognition through cognitive predictions during fixation.
• Visual perception involves dynamic shifts between fixations and saccades.
• The influence of peripheral context on gaze-based discrimination needs further exploration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how predictions from peripheral scene context affect gaze-based discrimination of objects in peripheral vision.
• To determine the impact of semantic congruence between scene and target category on saccade behavior.
• To understand the interplay between scene context, object presence, and saccade generation.

Main Methods:

• Three eye-tracking experiments were conducted.
• Participants performed a gaze-based discrimination task involving peripheral objects and scenes.
• Semantic congruence between scene context and target category was manipulated.

Main Results:

• Scene context semantically congruent with the target category induced erroneous saccades toward distractor objects.
• The congruence effect intensified when the scene preceded the object, suggesting predictive accumulation.
• Erroneous saccades resulted from the combined influence of scene context and object presence, not scene context alone.

Conclusions:

• Peripheral scene context is automatically processed to form predictions influencing saccade behavior.
• Task-irrelevant scene information can automatically trigger anticipatory eye movements toward expected objects.
• This highlights the predictive nature of visual attention and action planning.