Biomaterial Database

Saccadic eye movements to peripherally discriminated visual targets. 1982

P Viviani, and R G Swensson

Two experiments required subjects to identify a peripheral target embedded among nontarget stimuli and fixate it as quickly as possible with a single saccadic eye movement. Experiment 1 varied both the target distance and its angular position between trials; the mean oculomotor latency, the proportion of erroneous movements, and the proportion of (correct) movements followed by a corrective saccade all increased as a function of target distance. Experiment 2 held target distance constant (12.7 degrees) and used verbal instructions to manipulate the speed and accuracy of the subject's oculomotor performance between conditions. The speed/accuracy trade-off was similar for all subjects. The reduced uncertainty about target distance in Experiment 2 made each subject's oculomotor performance more efficient. Error trials not only included apparent perceptual errors (initial movements to nontarget stimuli) but also motor errors - that is, instances when the initial erroneous movement was followed, with an extremely short latency, by a large saccade to the target. The characteristics of these motor errors suggest that the saccade is not planned in terms of its amplitude and direction in retinal coordinates.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D011930	Reaction Time	The time from the onset of a stimulus until a response is observed.	Response Latency,Response Speed,Response Time,Latency, Response,Reaction Times,Response Latencies,Response Times,Speed, Response,Speeds, Response
D004193	Discrimination Learning	Learning that is manifested in the ability to respond differentially to various stimuli.	Discriminative Learning,Discrimination Learnings,Discriminative Learnings,Learning, Discrimination,Learning, Discriminative
D004215	Distance Perception	The act of knowing or the recognition of a distance by recollective thought, or by means of a sensory process which is under the influence of a set of prior experiences.	Distance Discrimination,Discrimination, Distance,Discriminations, Distance,Perception, Distance
D005133	Eye Movements	Voluntary or reflex-controlled movements of the eye.	Eye Movement,Movement, Eye,Movements, Eye
D005260	Female		Females
D005556	Form Perception	The sensory discrimination of a pattern, shape, or outline.	Contour Perception,Contour Perceptions,Form Perceptions,Perception, Contour,Perception, Form,Perceptions, Contour,Perceptions, Form
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults
D012438	Saccades	An abrupt voluntary shift in ocular fixation from one point to another, as occurs in reading.	Pursuit, Saccadic,Saccadic Eye Movements,Eye Movement, Saccadic,Eye Movements, Saccadic,Movement, Saccadic Eye,Movements, Saccadic Eye,Pursuits, Saccadic,Saccade,Saccadic Eye Movement,Saccadic Pursuit,Saccadic Pursuits