Investigating the control of visual fixation durations using the distractor effect

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Sebastian Pannasch
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology ; Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience
• Term: from 2013 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 234275636

The appearance or disappearance of a stimulus leads to a temporary inhibition of saccadic activity which also prolongs the affected fixation. This so-called distractor effect is most prominent for stimuli of the visual modality appearing directly at the fixation location. During the inspection of complex pictures, the distractor effect is modulated by the mode of attention. Also the task instruction influences the distractor effect: the prolongation of fixations is smaller when focusing on spatial information than on object information. Therefore, the distractor effect may not only represent visual processing of the distractor stimulus, but also higher cognitive processes. Within the project, the mode of operation of different information processes - isolated and in combination - on fixation duration lengthening and saccadic inhibition will be investigated. We will contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms of fixational control during the investigation of complex pictures.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants