TY - JOUR A1 - Cajar, Anke A1 - Schneeweiß, Paul A1 - Engbert, Ralf A1 - Laubrock, Jochen T1 - Coupling of attention and saccades when viewing scenes with central and peripheral degradation JF - Journal of Vision N2 - Degrading real-world scenes in the central or the peripheral visual field yields a characteristic pattern: Mean saccade amplitudes increase with central and decrease with peripheral degradation. Does this pattern reflect corresponding modulations of selective attention? If so, the observed saccade amplitude pattern should reflect more focused attention in the central region with peripheral degradation and an attentional bias toward the periphery with central degradation. To investigate this hypothesis, we measured the detectability of peripheral (Experiment 1) or central targets (Experiment 2) during scene viewing when low or high spatial frequencies were gaze-contingently filtered in the central or the peripheral visual field. Relative to an unfiltered control condition, peripheral filtering induced a decrease of the detection probability for peripheral but not for central targets (tunnel vision). Central filtering decreased the detectability of central but not of peripheral targets. Additional post hoc analyses are compatible with the interpretation that saccade amplitudes and direction are computed in partial independence. Our experimental results indicate that task-induced modulations of saccade amplitudes reflect attentional modulations. KW - scene viewing KW - saccades KW - attention KW - gaze-contingent displays KW - spatial frequencies KW - tunnel vision Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1167/16.2.8 SN - 1534-7362 VL - 16 IS - 2 SP - 1 EP - 19 PB - ARVO CY - Rockville, Md. ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rothkegel, Lars Oliver Martin A1 - Trukenbrod, Hans Arne A1 - Schütt, Heiko Herbert A1 - Wichmann, Felix A. A1 - Engbert, Ralf T1 - Influence of initial fixation position in scene viewing JF - Vision research : an international journal for functional aspects of vision. KW - Visual scanpath KW - Visual attention KW - Inhibition of return KW - Eye movements KW - Saliency Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2016.09.012 SN - 0042-6989 SN - 1878-5646 VL - 129 SP - 33 EP - 49 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cajar, Anke A1 - Engbert, Ralf A1 - Laubrock, Jochen T1 - Spatial frequency processing in the central and peripheral visual field during scene viewing JF - Vision research : an international journal for functional aspects of vision. N2 - Visuospatial attention and gaze control depend on the interaction of foveal and peripheral processing. The foveal and peripheral regions of the visual field are differentially sensitive to parts of the spatial frequency spectrum. In two experiments, we investigated how the selective attenuation of spatial frequencies in the central or the peripheral visual field affects eye-movement behavior during real-world scene viewing. Gaze-contingent low-pass or high-pass filters with varying filter levels (i.e., cutoff frequencies; Experiment 1) or filter sizes (Experiment 2) were applied. Compared to unfiltered control conditions, mean fixation durations increased most with central high-pass and peripheral low-pass filtering. Increasing filter size prolonged fixation durations with peripheral filtering, but not with central filtering. Increasing filter level prolonged fixation durations with low-pass filtering, but not with high-pass filtering. These effects indicate that fixation durations are not always longer under conditions of increased processing difficulty. Saccade amplitudes largely adapted to processing difficulty: amplitudes increased with central filtering and decreased with peripheral filtering; the effects strengthened with increasing filter size and filter level. In addition, we observed a trade-off between saccade timing and saccadic selection, since saccade amplitudes were modulated when fixation durations were unaffected by the experimental manipulations. We conclude that interactions of perception and gaze control are highly sensitive to experimental manipulations of input images as long as the residual information can still be accessed for gaze control. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. KW - Eye movements KW - Scene viewing KW - Spatial frequencies KW - Gaze-contingent displays Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2016.05.008 SN - 0042-6989 SN - 1878-5646 VL - 127 SP - 186 EP - 197 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nuthmann, Antje A1 - Vitu, Francoise A1 - Engbert, Ralf A1 - Kliegl, Reinhold T1 - No Evidence for a Saccadic Range Effect for Visually Guided and Memory-Guided Saccades in Simple Saccade-Targeting Tasks JF - PLoS one N2 - Saccades to single targets in peripheral vision are typically characterized by an undershoot bias. Putting this bias to a test, Kapoula [1] used a paradigm in which observers were presented with two different sets of target eccentricities that partially overlapped each other. Her data were suggestive of a saccadic range effect (SRE): There was a tendency for saccades to overshoot close targets and undershoot far targets in a block, suggesting that there was a response bias towards the center of eccentricities in a given block. Our Experiment 1 was a close replication of the original study by Kapoula [1]. In addition, we tested whether the SRE is sensitive to top-down requirements associated with the task, and we also varied the target presentation duration. In Experiments 1 and 2, we expected to replicate the SRE for a visual discrimination task. The simple visual saccade-targeting task in Experiment 3, entailing minimal top-down influence, was expected to elicit a weaker SRE. Voluntary saccades to remembered target locations in Experiment 3 were expected to elicit the strongest SRE. Contrary to these predictions, we did not observe a SRE in any of the tasks. Our findings complement the results reported by Gillen et al. [2] who failed to find the effect in a saccade-targeting task with a very brief target presentation. Together, these results suggest that unlike arm movements, saccadic eye movements are not biased towards making saccades of a constant, optimal amplitude for the task. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0162449 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 11 SP - 9935 EP - 9943 PB - PLoS CY - San Fransisco ER - TY - GEN A1 - Cajar, Anke A1 - Engbert, Ralf A1 - Laubrock, Jochen T1 - Eye movements during gaze-contingent spatial-frequency filtering of real-world scenes: Effects of filter location, cutoff, and size T2 - Perception Y1 - 2016 SN - 0301-0066 SN - 1468-4233 VL - 45 SP - 126 EP - 126 PB - Sage Publ. CY - London ER - TY - GEN A1 - Kruegel, Andre A1 - Engbert, Ralf T1 - Statistics of microsaccades indicate early frequency effects during visual word recognition T2 - Perception Y1 - 2016 SN - 0301-0066 SN - 1468-4233 VL - 45 SP - 127 EP - 127 PB - Sage Publ. CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sinn, Petra A1 - Engbert, Ralf T1 - Small saccades versus microsaccades: Experimental distinction and model-based unification JF - Vision research : an international journal for functional aspects of vision. N2 - Natural vision is characterized by alternating sequences of rapid gaze shifts (saccades) and fixations. During fixations, microsaccades and slower drift movements occur spontaneously, so that the eye is never motionless. Theoretical models of fixational eye movements predict that microsaccades are dynamically coupled to slower drift movements generated immediately before microsaccades, which might be used as a criterion to distinguish microsaccades from small voluntary saccades. Here we investigate a sequential scanning task, where participants generate goal-directed saccades and microsaccades with overlapping amplitude distributions. We show that properties of microsaccades are correlated with precursory drift motion, while amplitudes of goal-directed saccades do not dependent on previous drift epochs. We develop and test a mathematical model that integrates goal-directed and fixational eye movements, including microsaccades. Using model simulations, we reproduce the experimental finding of correlations within fixational eye movement components (i.e., between physiological drift and microsaccades) but not between goal-directed saccades and fixational drift motion. These results lend support to a functional difference between microsaccades and goal-directed saccades, while, at the same time, both types of behavior may be part of an oculomotor continuum that is quantitatively described by our mathematical model. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. KW - Eye movements KW - Visual fixation KW - Microsaccades KW - Mathematical model Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2015.05.012 SN - 0042-6989 SN - 1878-5646 VL - 118 SP - 132 EP - 143 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cajar, Anke A1 - Schneeweiss, Paul A1 - Engbert, Ralf A1 - Laubrock, Jochen T1 - Coupling of attention and saccades when viewing scenes with central and peripheral degradation JF - Journal of vision N2 - Degrading real-world scenes in the central or the peripheral visual field yields a characteristic pattern: Mean saccade amplitudes increase with central and decrease with peripheral degradation. Does this pattern reflect corresponding modulations of selective attention? If so, the observed saccade amplitude pattern should reflect more focused attention in the central region with peripheral degradation and an attentional bias toward the periphery with central degradation. To investigate this hypothesis, we measured the detectability of peripheral (Experiment 1) or central targets (Experiment 2) during scene viewing when low or high spatial frequencies were gaze-contingently filtered in the central or the peripheral visual field. Relative to an unfiltered control condition, peripheral filtering induced a decrease of the detection probability for peripheral but not for central targets (tunnel vision). Central filtering decreased the detectability of central but not of peripheral targets. Additional post hoc analyses are compatible with the interpretation that saccade amplitudes and direction are computed in partial independence. Our experimental results indicate that task-induced modulations of saccade amplitudes reflect attentional modulations. KW - scene viewing KW - saccades KW - attention KW - gaze-contingent displays KW - spatial frequencies KW - tunnel vision Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1167/16.2.8 SN - 1534-7362 VL - 16 PB - Association for Research in Vision and Opthalmology CY - Rockville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ohl, Sven A1 - Wohltat, Christian A1 - Kliegl, Reinhold A1 - Pollatos, Olga A1 - Engbert, Ralf T1 - Microsaccades Are Coupled to Heartbeat JF - The journal of neuroscience N2 - During visual fixation, the eye generates microsaccades and slower components of fixational eye movements that are part of the visual processing strategy in humans. Here, we show that ongoing heartbeat is coupled to temporal rate variations in the generation of microsaccades. Using coregistration of eye recording and ECG in humans, we tested the hypothesis that microsaccade onsets are coupled to the relative phase of the R-R intervals in heartbeats. We observed significantly more microsaccades during the early phase after the R peak in the ECG. This form of coupling between heartbeat and eye movements was substantiated by the additional finding of a coupling between heart phase and motion activity in slow fixational eye movements; i.e., retinal image slip caused by physiological drift. Our findings therefore demonstrate a coupling of the oculomotor system and ongoing heartbeat, which provides further evidence for bodily influences on visuomotor functioning. KW - eye movements KW - heartbeat KW - microsaccades Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2211-15.2016 SN - 0270-6474 VL - 36 SP - 1237 EP - 1241 PB - Society for Neuroscience CY - Washington ER -