Abstract
The retinal positions of objects in the world change with each eye movement, but we seem to have little trouble keeping track of spatial information from one fixation to the next. We examined the role of attention in trans-saccadic localization by asking participants to localize targets while performing an attentionally demanding secondary task. In the first experiment, attentional load decreased localization precision for a remembered target, but only when a saccade intervened between target presentation and report. We then repeated the experiment and included a salient landmark that shifted on half the trials. The shifting landmark had a larger effect on localization under high load, indicating that observers rely more on landmarks to make localization judgments under high than under low attentional load. The results suggest that attention facilitates trans-saccadic localization judgments based on spatial updating of gaze-centered coordinates when visual landmarks are not available. The availability of reliable landmarks (present in most natural circumstances) can compensate for the effects of scarce attentional resources on trans-saccadic localization.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by Grants from the BBSRC (BB/H01280X/1) and the James S McDonnell Foundation (both to A.R.H). The authors would like to thank Kelly Norman for assistance with data collection, and the members of the Perception and Attention theme at the University of Aberdeen for feedback and discussion.
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MacInnes, W.J., Hunt, A.R. Attentional load interferes with target localization across saccades. Exp Brain Res 232, 3737–3748 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-014-4062-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-014-4062-2