Retinal versus extraretinal influences in flash localization during saccadic eye movements in the presence of a visible background

Four experiments examined the relative use of retinal and extraretinal information in judging the location of a stimulus flash presented under normal lighting conditions in the temporal vicinity of an eye saccade. Two previous studies done under normal lighting conditions (N. Bischof & E. Kramer, 1968, and S. Mateeff, 1978) had hypothesized strong use of extraretinal information. The present study reexamined this work and showed that, in fact, two kinds of retinal effects had been neglected in these studies, and that these alone probably suffice to explain the results. The first retinal effect is related to differences between the response of the visual system to foveal and peripheral stimuli, and may be active even in the dark. The second retinal effect is related to the fact that smearing of the retinal image of the background occurs when the eye moves.

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