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Abstract
The idea that covert mental processes such as spatial attention are fundamentally dependent on systems that control overt movements of the eyes has had a profound influence on theoretical models of spatial attention. However, theories such as Klein’s Oculomotor Readiness Hypothesis (OMRH) and Rizzolatti’s Premotor Theory have not gone unchallenged. We previously argued that although OMRH/Premotor theory is inadequate to explain pre-saccadic attention and endogenous covert orienting, it may still be tenable as a theory of exogenous covert orienting. In this article we briefly reiterate the key lines of argument for and against OMRH/Premotor theory, then evaluate the Oculomotor Readiness account of Exogenous Orienting (OREO) with respect to more recent empirical data. These studies broadly confirm the importance of oculomotor preparation for covert, exogenous attention. We explain this relationship in terms of reciprocal links between parietal ‘priority maps’ and the midbrain oculomotor centres that translate priority-related activation into potential saccade endpoints. We conclude that the OMRH/Premotor theory hypothesis is false for covert, endogenous orienting but remains tenable as an explanation for covert, exogenous orienting.
Highlights
Covert spatial attention allows us to select important and/or behaviourally relevant visual inputs by enhancing signals arising from attended locations and suppressing signals from unattended locations [1]without moving the eyes to that location
Oculomotor Readiness Hypothesis (OMRH)/Premotor Theory (PMT) argues that planning an eye movement is both necessary and sufficient for covert, endogenous orienting of attention
Many studies suggest that there is an association between covert attention and oculomotor control, but none of this evidence demonstrates a causal relationship between saccade programming and covert, endogenous spatial attention
Summary
Covert spatial attention allows us to select important and/or behaviourally relevant visual inputs by enhancing signals arising from attended locations and suppressing signals from unattended locations [1]. We believe there are a number of reasons to be cautious about accepting these lines of evidence as conclusive proof of the claim that saccade programming is necessary and sufficient for covert orienting of spatial attention in the absence of an overt eye movement. While the evidence of interactions between saccade programming and covert attention suggests a relationship between the two processes, the evidence is not consistent with the claim made by OMRH/PMT, which is that covert orienting of attention is caused by activation of a saccade plan.
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