Degree
Master of Science
Program
Kinesiology
Supervisor
Dr. Matthew Heath
Abstract
Antisaccades require the top-down process of decoupling a stimulus and a response and executing a saccade mirror-symmetrical to a target. Notably, research has yet to characterize the endpoint properties of antisaccades. Experiment One had participants antisaccade in two trial blocks that contained the same number of target eccentricities but differed in respect to their magnitudes. Experiment Two manipulated the frequency that individual target eccentricities were presented within a block of trials. Notably, Experiments One and Two were designed to determine whether the top-down control of antisaccades renders the processing of target features via a strategy of perceptual averaging. Results showed that antisaccades endpoints were biased in the direction of the central target (i.e., the statistical summary) within a block of trials (Experiment One), and in the direction of the most frequently presented target (Experiment Two). Therefore, I propose that antisaccade endpoints are mediated via a perceptual averaging strategy.
Recommended Citation
Gillen, Caitlin, "Statistical Summaries in Action: Evidence from the Antisaccade Task" (2014). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 2346.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/2346