The effect of saccades on threshold perception--a model study.

Abstract

The effect of saccadic eye movements on threshold perception is investigated theoretically. The proposed model considers eye movements by taking into account the shifting of the stimulus pattern on the retina during the occurrence of an eye movement. Saccades are characterized by high velocity and short duration. These motions cause overshoots in the response of linear filters to certain stimulus patterns. Therefore, the model predicts facilitation effects of saccades in the perception of low spatial frequency patterns and patterns flickering with high temporal frequencies. These results agree with experimentally obtained data presented in a subsequent paper. A simple approach is formulated which approximates the complex shifting function of a saccade by a switching of the pattern.