To look or not to look: Subliminal abrupt-onset cues influence constrained free-choice saccades

Subliminal cues have been shown to capture attention and modulate manual response behaviour but their impact on eye movement behaviour is not well-studied. In two experiments, we examined if subliminal cues influence constrained free-choice saccades and if this influence is under strategic control a...

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Main Authors: Seema Gorur Prasad, Ramesh Kumar Mishra
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-07-01
Series:Journal of Eye Movement Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://bop.unibe.ch/JEMR/article/view/6696
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author Seema Gorur Prasad
Ramesh Kumar Mishra
author_facet Seema Gorur Prasad
Ramesh Kumar Mishra
author_sort Seema Gorur Prasad
collection DOAJ
description Subliminal cues have been shown to capture attention and modulate manual response behaviour but their impact on eye movement behaviour is not well-studied. In two experiments, we examined if subliminal cues influence constrained free-choice saccades and if this influence is under strategic control as a function of task-relevancy of the cues. On each trial, a display containing four filled circles at the centre of each quadrant was shown. A central coloured circle indicated the relevant visual field on each trial (Up or Down in Experiment 1; Left or Right in Experiment 2). Next, abrupt-onset cues were presented for 16 ms at one of the four locations. Participants were then asked to freely choose and make a saccade to one of the two target circles in the relevant visual field. The analysis of the frequency of saccades, saccade endpoint deviation and saccade latency revealed a significant influence of the relevant subliminal cues on saccadic decisions. Latency data showed reduced capture by spatially-irrelevant cues under some conditions. These results indicate that spatial attentional control settings as defined in our study could modulate the influence of subliminal abrupt-onset cues on eye movement behaviour. We situate the findings of this study in the attention-capture debate and discuss the implications for the subliminal cueing literature.
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spelling doaj-art-1be4e60cbb384d4a84f904a2fd3324322025-08-20T03:06:09ZengMDPI AGJournal of Eye Movement Research1995-86922020-07-0113410.16910/jemr.13.4.2To look or not to look: Subliminal abrupt-onset cues influence constrained free-choice saccadesSeema Gorur Prasad0Ramesh Kumar Mishra1University of HyderabadUniversity of HyderabadSubliminal cues have been shown to capture attention and modulate manual response behaviour but their impact on eye movement behaviour is not well-studied. In two experiments, we examined if subliminal cues influence constrained free-choice saccades and if this influence is under strategic control as a function of task-relevancy of the cues. On each trial, a display containing four filled circles at the centre of each quadrant was shown. A central coloured circle indicated the relevant visual field on each trial (Up or Down in Experiment 1; Left or Right in Experiment 2). Next, abrupt-onset cues were presented for 16 ms at one of the four locations. Participants were then asked to freely choose and make a saccade to one of the two target circles in the relevant visual field. The analysis of the frequency of saccades, saccade endpoint deviation and saccade latency revealed a significant influence of the relevant subliminal cues on saccadic decisions. Latency data showed reduced capture by spatially-irrelevant cues under some conditions. These results indicate that spatial attentional control settings as defined in our study could modulate the influence of subliminal abrupt-onset cues on eye movement behaviour. We situate the findings of this study in the attention-capture debate and discuss the implications for the subliminal cueing literature.https://bop.unibe.ch/JEMR/article/view/6696eye movementseye trackingsaccadessubliminal cueingattentionconstrained free-choice
spellingShingle Seema Gorur Prasad
Ramesh Kumar Mishra
To look or not to look: Subliminal abrupt-onset cues influence constrained free-choice saccades
Journal of Eye Movement Research
eye movements
eye tracking
saccades
subliminal cueing
attention
constrained free-choice
title To look or not to look: Subliminal abrupt-onset cues influence constrained free-choice saccades
title_full To look or not to look: Subliminal abrupt-onset cues influence constrained free-choice saccades
title_fullStr To look or not to look: Subliminal abrupt-onset cues influence constrained free-choice saccades
title_full_unstemmed To look or not to look: Subliminal abrupt-onset cues influence constrained free-choice saccades
title_short To look or not to look: Subliminal abrupt-onset cues influence constrained free-choice saccades
title_sort to look or not to look subliminal abrupt onset cues influence constrained free choice saccades
topic eye movements
eye tracking
saccades
subliminal cueing
attention
constrained free-choice
url https://bop.unibe.ch/JEMR/article/view/6696
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