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Spatio-temporal properties of oculomotor activation by multiple, simultaneous peripheral stimuli. Vision Res 2021; 188:251-261. [PMID: 34419713 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2021.07.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2020] [Revised: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 07/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Oculomotor research shows that eye movements are primed toward the midpoint of an array of visual stimuli, such that an eye movement to a visual target is executed most rapidly when it appears near the midpoint of an earlier array. At longer intervals between the prime and target, this facilitatory effect can reverse to become inhibitory - such that eye movements are slower when made toward the midpoint - but the source of this inhibition is unclear. One of our prior studies suggests a global source: target proximity to the midpoint determines inhibition, consistent with the notion that oculomotor activation is responsible for the effect and the original definition of inhibition of return. A later study suggests a local source: target proximity to the nearest array element determines inhibition, consistent with the notion that repeat stimulation of an input pathway is responsible. To resolve the ambiguity we systematically test whether timing differences between studies altered the source of the inhibition. We find that both previously observed patterns are reproducible depending on the prime offset - target onset asynchrony. We also resolve the discrepancy by showing that when this asynchrony is less than 200 ms, target proximity to the array's midpoint and its proximity to any given array element can jointly determine inhibition, whereas when the asynchrony is approximately 200 ms, inhibition is robust at the midpoint of the array. At longer asynchronies, all inhibitory effects rapidly dissipate.
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2
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Using Rescorla's truly random control condition to measure truly exogenous covert orienting. Psychon Bull Rev 2018; 26:569-575. [PMID: 30511232 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-018-1544-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Studies of exogenous covert orienting use peripheral cues (stimuli) that are spatially uninformative about the locations of subsequent targets. When the time course of the cue's influence on performance is explored (by varying the cue target onset asynchrony; CTOA), a biphasic pattern is usually seen with better performance at the cued location when the CTOA is short (typically attributed to attentional capture) and worse performance at the cued location when the CTOA is long (attributed to inhibition of return). However, while spatially uninformative, these cues (even when a nonaging foreperiod is used) entail a temporal contingency with the subsequent target. Consequently, this so-called capture may reflect an unintended consequence of endogenous allocation of temporal attention. Following Lawrence and Klein (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 142(2), 560-572, 2013) we used Rescorla's (Psychological Review, 74, 71-80, 1967) truly random control condition to ensure that the spatially uninformative peripheral stimuli were temporally completely uninformative. Even such completely uninformative peripheral stimuli generated the prototypical biphasic pattern.
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Temporal ambiguity of onsets in a cueing task prevents facilitation but not inhibition of return. Atten Percept Psychophys 2018; 80:106-117. [PMID: 29075992 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-017-1435-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Cueing effects, i.e., early facilitation of reaction time and inhibition of return (IOR), are well-established and robust phenomena characterizing exogenous orienting and are widely observed in experiments with a traditional Posner cueing paradigm. Krüger, MacInnes, and Hunt (2014) proposed that facilitatory effects of peripheral cues are the result of a cue-target perceptual merging due to re-entrant visual processing. To test the role and timing of these feedback mechanisms in peripheral cueing effects, we modified the traditional cueing task in Experiments 1-3 by interleaving pre- and post-cue trials at the valid and invalid location and random cue-target onset asynchrony (CTOA) ranging from -300 to +1,000 ms. Analysis of the manual reaction time distribution over CTOA showed well-pronounced IOR in the valid pre-cue condition and a small cost of perceptual merging in the post-cue condition, but no early facilitation of reaction time was observed in the pre-cue condition. In Experiment 4, we tested directly whether temporal ambiguity eliminated facilitation by restricting CTOAs to only the pre-cue time range and including a between-subject manipulation of a) random, b) mixed discrete, and c) blocked discrete CTOAs. Results obtained in the continuous and binned conditions showed no facilitation but robust IOR. We found both early facilitation and IOR in the blocked condition. Overall, the present findings show a small perceptual merging result without accompanying facilitation, suggesting different underlying mechanisms. Second, they demonstrate that early facilitation is likely to be affected by the presence or absence of temporal expectations and that the early onset of IOR might be masked by stronger facilitation in traditional cueing experiments.
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Lim A, Eng V, Janssen SMJ, Satel J. Sensory adaptation and inhibition of return: dissociating multiple inhibitory cueing effects. Exp Brain Res 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s00221-018-5225-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Mégardon G, Sumner P. The fate of nonselected activity in saccadic decisions: distinct goal-related and history-related modulation. J Neurophysiol 2018; 119:608-620. [PMID: 29046422 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00254.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The global effect (GE) traditionally refers to the tendency of effectors (e.g., hand, eyes) to first land in between two nearby stimuli, forming a unimodal distribution. By measuring a shift of this distribution, recent studies used the GE to assess the presence of decision-related inputs on the motor map for eye movements. However, this method cannot distinguish whether one stimulus is inhibited or the other is facilitated and could not detect situations where both stimuli are inhibited or facilitated. Here, we detect deviations in the bimodal distribution of landing positions for remote stimuli and find that this bimodal GE reveals the presence, location, and polarity (facilitation or inhibition) of history-related and goal-related modulation of the nonselected activity (e.g., the distractor activity in correct trials, and the target activity in error trials). We tested, for different interstimulus distances, the effect of the rarity of double-stimulus trials and the difference between performing a discrimination task compared with free choice. Our work shows that the effect of rarity is symmetric and decreases with interstimulus distances, while the effect of goal-directed discrimination is asymmetric - occurring only when the distractor is selected for the saccade - and maintained across interstimulus distances. These results suggest that the former effect changes the response property of the motor map, while the latter specifically facilitates the target location. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Deviations in landing positions for saccades to targets and distractors reveal the presence, location and polarity of history-related or goal-related signals. Goal-directed discrimination appears to facilitate the target location, rather than inhibiting the distractor location, Rare occurrence of a choice appears to indiscriminately increase the neural response for both locations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geoffrey Mégardon
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imagery Centre, School of Psychology, Cardiff University , Cardiff , United Kingdom.,School of Psychology, Cardiff University , Cardiff , United Kingdom
| | - Petroc Sumner
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imagery Centre, School of Psychology, Cardiff University , Cardiff , United Kingdom
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Hilchey MD, Pratt J, Christie J. Placeholders dissociate two forms of inhibition of return. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2018; 71:360-371. [PMID: 27737621 DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2016.1247898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Decades of research using Posner's classic spatial cueing paradigm has uncovered at least two forms of inhibition of return (IOR) in the aftermath of an exogenous, peripheral orienting cue. One prominent dissociation concerns the role of covert and overt orienting in generating IOR effects that relate to perception- and action-oriented processes, respectively. Another prominent dissociation concerns the role of covert and overt orienting in generating IOR effects that depend on object- and space-based representation, respectively. Our objective was to evaluate whether these dichotomies are functionally equivalent by manipulating placeholder object presence in the cueing paradigm. By discouraging eye movements throughout, Experiments 1A and 1B validated a perception-oriented form of IOR that depended critically on placeholders. Experiment 2A demonstrated that IOR was robust without placeholders when eye movements went to the cue and back to fixation before the manual response target. In Experiment 2B, we replicated Experiment 2A's procedures except we discouraged eye movements. IOR was observed, albeit only weakly and significantly diminished relative to when eye movements were involved. We conclude that action-oriented IOR is robust against placeholders but that the magnitude of perception-oriented IOR is critically sensitive to placeholder presence when unwanted oculomotor activity can be ruled out.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew D Hilchey
- 1 Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Jay Pratt
- 1 Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - John Christie
- 2 Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
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De Vries JP, Van der Stigchel S, Hooge ITC, Verstraten FAJ. Revisiting the global effect and inhibition of return. Exp Brain Res 2016; 234:2999-3009. [PMID: 27377069 PMCID: PMC5025513 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-016-4702-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2015] [Accepted: 05/18/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Saccades toward previously cued locations have longer latencies than saccades toward other locations, a phenomenon known as inhibition of return (IOR). Watanabe (Exp Brain Res 138:330–342. doi:10.1007/s002210100709, 2001) combined IOR with the global effect (where saccade landing points fall in between neighboring objects) to investigate whether IOR can also have a spatial component. When one of two neighboring targets was cued, there was a clear bias away from the cued location. In a condition where both targets were cued, it appeared that the global effect magnitude was similar to the condition without any cues. However, as the latencies in the double cue condition were shorter compared to the no cue condition, it is still an open question whether these results are representative for IOR. Considering the double cue condition can provide valuable insight into the interaction of the mechanisms underlying the two phenomena, here, we revisit this condition in an adapted paradigm. Our paradigm does result in longer latencies for the cued locations, and we find that the magnitude of the global effect is reduced significantly. Unexpectedly, this holds even when only including saccades with the same latencies for both conditions. Thus, the increased latencies associated with IOR cannot directly explain the reduction in global effect. The global effect reduction can likely best be seen as either a result of short-term depression of exogenous visual signals or a result of IOR established at the center of gravity of cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jelmer P De Vries
- Division of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | - Stefan Van der Stigchel
- Division of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Ignace T C Hooge
- Division of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Frans A J Verstraten
- Division of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.,School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
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Cole GG, Wright D, Doneva SP, Skarratt PA. When your decisions are not (quite) your own: action observation influences free choices. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0127766. [PMID: 26024480 PMCID: PMC4449193 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2014] [Accepted: 04/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
A growing number of studies have begun to assess how the actions of one individual are represented in an observer. Using a variant of an action observation paradigm, four experiments examined whether one person’s behaviour can influence the subjective decisions and judgements of another. In Experiment 1, two observers sat adjacent to each other and took turns to freely select and reach to one of two locations. Results showed that participants were less likely to make a response to the same location as their partner. In three further experiments observers were asked to decide which of two familiar products they preferred or which of two faces were most attractive. Results showed that participants were less likely to choose the product or face occupying the location of their partner’s previous reaching response. These findings suggest that action observation can influence a range of free choice preferences and decisions. Possible mechanisms through which this influence occurs are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geoff G. Cole
- Centre for Brain Science, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| | - Damien Wright
- Centre for Brain Science, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex, United Kingdom
| | - Silviya P. Doneva
- Centre for Brain Science, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex, United Kingdom
| | - Paul A. Skarratt
- Department of Psychology, University of Hull, Hull, Yorkshire, United Kingdom
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Eye movements are primed toward the center of multiple stimuli even when the interstimulus distances are too large to generate saccade averaging. Exp Brain Res 2015; 233:1541-9. [PMID: 25716611 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-015-4227-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2014] [Accepted: 02/10/2015] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Prior oculomotor research has established that saccades tend to land near the center of multiple saccade targets when they are near each other. This saccade averaging phenomenon (or global effect) has been ascribed to short-distance lateral excitation between neurons in the superior colliculus. Further, at greater inter-stimulus distances, eye movements tend toward the individual elements. This transition to control by local elements (individuation) with inter-stimulus distance has been attributed to long-range lateral inhibition between neurons in winner-take-all models of oculomotor behavior. We hypothesized that the traditional method of requiring a saccade to an array of multiple, simultaneous targets may entail response ambiguity that intensifies with distance. We resolved the ambiguity by focussing on reaction time of our human participants to a single saccade target after one or more simultaneous priming stimuli. At a 50-ms prime-target interval, saccadic reaction time was shortest for targets closer to the center of the prime stimuli independent of the distance between the primes. This effect was gone at 400 ms. These findings challenge the typical inferences about the neural control of oculomotor behavior that have been derived from the boundary between saccade averaging and individuation and provide a new method to explore eye movements with lessened impact from decision processes.
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The Spatial Orienting paradigm: How to design and interpret spatial attention experiments. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2014; 40:35-51. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 121] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2013] [Revised: 12/03/2013] [Accepted: 01/07/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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