Abstract
Visual masking effects on test flash thresholds were measured under real and simulated eye movement conditions to determine whether visual masking is primarily responsible for elevations in threshold that are sometimes associated with saccadic eye movements. Brief luminous flashes presented to the central retina before, during, and after saccades were masked by stimuli presented either pre- or postsaccadically. The amount and time course of masking were quantitatively dependent on stimulus parameters of intensity and temporal separation and were unaffected by eye movement parameters (amplitude, velocity, direction) as long as retinal stimulus conditions were constant. The duration of forward masking was longer than that of backward masking. When retinal conditions during saccades were mimicked while the eyes were held steady, masking interactions were identical to those obtained during real saccades. These results indicate that masking effects during saccades in ordinary environments are determined solely by the stimulus situation at the retina. Putative nonvisual, centrally originating saccadic suppression suggested by other authors is evidently not additive with visually determined masking during saccades.
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This research was supported by NIH Grant RR07187 and NIH (NEI) Grant EY01497 to B. A. Brooks. D. M. K. Impelman was supported by NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship 5F 32EY05 191-03. Some of the results were presented to the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Sarasota, Florida, May 1978.
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Brooks, B.A., Impelman, D.M.K. & Lum, J.T. Backward and forward masking associated with saccadic eye movement. Perception & Psychophysics 30, 62–70 (1981). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206137
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206137