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Two attentional components for two purposes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 1997

B. Fischer
Affiliation:
Brain Research Unit, Institute of Biophysics, University of Freiburg, D-79104 Freiburg, Germanybfischer@ruf.uni-freiburg.de
H. Weber
Affiliation:
Brain Research Unit, Institute of Biophysics, University of Freiburg, D-79104 Freiburg, Germanybfischer@ruf.uni-freiburg.de

Abstract

Inappropriate saccades are prevented by fixation and by voluntary attention. The fixation system inhibits the saccade system. Like monkeys without a fixation system, humans with a weak fixation system produce many express saccades and cannot suppress prosaccades in an antisaccade task. With permanent attention to a peripheral location only a few express saccades to a stimulus at this location can be elicited: the sustained component of attention acts like fixation. When attention is captured by a precue, more express saccades are obtained: the stimulus-driven component of attention facilitates saccade generation. If the cue correctly indicates the direction for an antisaccade error rate and latencies are increased.

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Copyright
© 1997 Cambridge University Press

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