Prediction of complex stimuli across saccades

Abstract

The visual system can predict visual features across saccades based on learned transsaccadic associations between peripheral and foveal input. This has been shown for simple visual features such as shape, size, and spatial frequency. The present study investigated whether transsaccadic predictions are also made for more complex visual stimuli. In an acquisition phase, new transsaccadic associations were established. In the first experiment, pictures of real-world objects changed category during the saccade (fruits were changed into balls or vice versa). In the second experiment, the gender of faces was manipulated during the saccade (faces changed from male to female or vice versa). In the following test phase, the stimuli were briefly presented in the periphery, and participants had to indicate which object or face, respectively, they had perceived. In both experiments, peripheral perception was biased toward the acquired associated foveal input. These results demonstrate that transsaccadic predictions are not limited to a small set of simple visual features but can also be made for more complex and realistic stimuli. Multiple new associations can be learned within a short time frame, and the resulting predictions appear to be object specific.