Detection is slower for targets within the foveola than in the parafovea despite equal detectability¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r1 · q3
Currency · newest study 2017 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Observers were slower to detect foveolar than parafoveal targets (p<0.0001), with an average reaction-time increment of 46 ± 3 ms, even though stimuli were equally detectable across experiments. → Poletti Martina 2017

Evidence¶

Poletti Martina 2017¶

Poletti Martina, Rucci Michele, Carrasco Marisa. (2017). Selective attention within the foveola. Nature Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.4622

q3 · i? · causal · r1

Cross-experiment comparison of Experiments 1 and 2 reaction times in five observers; the article reports "the increment in reaction time was 46 ± 3 ms" and links the pattern to eccentricity-dependent processing differences reported outside the fovea.

"observers were slower at detecting targets presented within the foveola than in the parafovea (p<0.0001, two-tailed paired t-test; compare reaction times in Fig. 1C and in Fig. 2E), even though the stimuli were equally detectable in both experiments (p>0.77 in all three trial types, two-tailed paired t-tests)"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Covert attention facilitates detection within the foveola at locations only 20 arcminutes apart, with an effect similar in magnitude to the parafovea
• Fine foveolar attentional effects persist during normal, non-stabilized fixation with natural retinal image motion
• Endogenous spatial cueing speeds detection at the attended parafoveal location and slows it at the unattended location
• Covert attention enhances fine spatial discrimination (orientation d′) within the foveola with high selectivity across 20′ separations — related