Abstract
Feature integration theory proposes that visual features, such as shape and color, can only be combined into a unified object when spatial attention is directed to their location in retinotopic maps. Eye movements cause dramatic changes on our retinae, and are associated with obligatory shifts in spatial attention. In two experiments, we measured the prevalence of conjunction errors (that is, reporting an object as having an attribute that belonged to another object), for brief stimulus presentation before, during, and after a saccade. Planning and executing a saccade did not itself disrupt feature integration. Motion did disrupt feature integration, leading to an increase in conjunction errors. However, retinal motion of an equal extent but caused by saccadic eye movements is spared this disruption, and showed similar rates of conjunction errors as a condition with static stimuli presented to a static eye. The results suggest that extra-retinal signals are able to compensate for the motion caused by saccadic eye movements, thereby preserving the integrity of objects across saccades and preventing their features from mixing or mis-binding.
Highlights
We experience a world of unified objects, in which confusion and ambiguity around which features belong to which object seem to be rare
The current study examined whether planning and executing eye movements interferes with feature integration, as measured by the prevalence of conjunction errors
Generated retinal motion does increase conjunction errors, but motion of the same extent caused by an eye movement shows similar levels of conjunction errors as stationary targets shown to a stable retina
Summary
We experience a world of unified objects, in which confusion and ambiguity around which features belong to which object seem to be rare. The classic Feature Integration Theory (FIT; Treisman & Gelade, 1980) posits that attention is required to bind visual features into unified objects. FIT proposes that selective spatial attention gives objects and their composite parts and features continuity over space and time. Until attention is directed to an object, its features are “unbound” and can be interchanged. They note that in everyday life, even though we attend to a small fraction of the available perceptual information, we do not experience perceptual errors that we could attribute to mis-binding of features.
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