Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the degree to which foveal information is necessary for object identification. To explore this question, we used an artificial moving scotoma paradigm to eliminate a region of a currently viewed display in real time as a function of eye position. Subjects examined linear arrays of four line drawings of objects while their eye movements were recorded. Immediately following each array, a test probe was presented to test the degree to which the subject had identified those objects. Three conditions were compared, one in which a central foveal scotoma was created, one in which an extrafoveal scotoma was created, and a control condition in which the scotoma was absent. The main result was that identification accuracy was very good, but eye-movement behavior was disrupted when a foveal scotoma was present. These results suggest that foveal information is not necessary but is beneficial for perceptual encoding during object identification; the loss of foveal information can be overcome as long as compensatory extrafoveal processing is possible.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Antes, J. R. (1974). The time course of picture viewing.Journal of Experimental Psychology,103, 62–70.
Buswell, G. T. (1935).How people look at pictures. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Crane, H. D. (1994). The Purkinje image eyetracker, image stabilization, and related forms of stimulus manipulation. In D. H. Kelley (Ed.),Visual science and engineering: Models and applications (pp. 15–89). New York: Macel Dekker.
Crane, H. D., &Steele, C. M. (1985). Generation-V dual-Purkinjeimage eyetracker.Applied Optics,24, 527–537.
De Graef, P., Christiaens, D., &d’Ydewalle, G. (1990). Perceptual effects of scene context on object recognition.Psychological Research,52, 317–329.
Fischer, B., &Ramsperger, E. (1984). Human express saccades: Extremely short reaction times of goal directed eye movements.Experimental Brain Research,57, 191–195.
Fischer, B., &Weber, H. (1993). Express saccades and visual attention.Behavioral & Brain Sciences,16, 553–610.
Friedman, A. (1979). Framing pictures: The role of knowledge in automatized encoding and memory for gist.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,108, 316–355.
Henderson, J. M. (1992a). Identifying objects across saccades: Effects of extrafoveal preview and flanker object context.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,18, 521–530.
Henderson, J. M. (1992b). Visual attention and eye movement control during reading and picture viewing. In K. Rayner (Ed.),Eye movements and visual cognition (pp. 260–283). New York: Springer-Verlag.
Henderson, J. M. (1993). Eye movement control during visual object processing: Effects of initial fixation position and semantic constraint.Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology,47, 79–98.
Henderson, J. M., Dixon, P., Petersen, A., Twilley, L., &Ferreira, F. (1995). Evidence for the use of phonological representations during transsaccadic word recognition.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,21, 82–97.
Henderson, J. M., &Ferreira, F. (1990). Effects of foveal processing difficulty on the perceptual span in reading: Implications for attention and eye movement control.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,16, 417–429.
Henderson, J. M., Pollatsek, A., &Rayner, K. (1987). The effects of foveal priming and extrafoveal preview on object identification.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,13, 449–463.
Henderson, J. M., Pollatsek, A., &Rayner, K. (1989). Covert visual attention and extrafoveal information use during object identification.Perception & Psychophysics,45, 196–208.
Loftus, G. R., &Mackworth, N. H. (1978). Cognitive determinants of fixation location during picture viewing.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,4, 565–572.
Mackworth, N. H., &Morandi, A. J. (1967). The gaze selects informative details within pictures.Perception & Psychophysics,2, 547–552.
Nelson, W. W., &Loftus, G. R. (1980). The functional visual field during picture viewing.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning & Memory,6, 391–399.
O’Regan, J. K. (1992). Optimal viewing position in words and the strategy-tactics theory of eye movements in reading. In K. Rayner (Ed.),Eye movements and visual cognition: Scene perception and reading (pp. 333–354). New York: Springer-Verlag.
Parker, R. E. (1978). Picture processing during recognition.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,4, 284–293.
Pollatsek, A., Rayner, K., &Collins, W. E. (1984). Integrating pictorial information across eye movements.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,113, 426–442.
Pollatsek, A., Rayner, K., &Henderson, J. M. (1990). Role of spatial location in integration of pictorial information across saccades.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,16, 199–210.
Rayner, K. (1975). The perceptual span and peripheral cues in reading.Cognitive Psychology,7, 65–81.
Rayner, K., &Bertera, J. H. (1979). Reading without a fovea.Science,206, 468–469.
Rayner, K., Inhoff, A. W., Morrison, R. E., Slowiaczek, M. L., &Bertera, J. H. (1981). Masking of foveal and parafoveal vision during eye fixations in reading.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,7, 167–179.
Rayner, K., McConkie, G. W., &Ehrlich, S. (1978). Eye movements and integrating information across fixations.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,4, 529–544.
Rayner, K., &Pollatsek, A. (1989).The psychology of reading. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Snodgrass, J. G., &Vanderwart, M. (1980). A standardized set of 260 pictures: Norms for name agreement, image agreement, familiarity, and visual complexity.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning & Memory,6, 174–215.
Van Diepen, P. M. J., De Graef, P., &d’Ydewalle, G. (1995). Chronometry of foveal information extraction during scene perception. In J. M. Findlay, R. Walker, & R. W. Kentridge (Eds.),Eye movement research: Mechanisms, processes, and applications (pp. 349–362). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Vitu, F., O’Regan, J. K., Inhoff, A. W., &Topolski, R. (1995). Mindless reading: Eye-movement characteristics are similar in scanning strings and reading texts.Perception & Psychophysics,57, 352–364.
Yarbus, A. L. (1967).Eye movements and vision. New York: Plenum.
Yarbus, A. L. (1967).Eye movements and vision. New York: Plenum.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
The research reported here was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (R03 MH53023-01) and the U.S. Army Research Office (DAAH04-94-G-0404). This article was written while the first author (J.H.) was visiting the Laboratory of Experimental Psychology at the University of Leuven,
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Henderson, J.M., Mcclure, K.K., Pierce, S. et al. Object identification without foveal vision: Evidence from an artificial scotoma paradigm. Perception & Psychophysics 59, 323–346 (1997). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211901
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211901