Abstract
A Static Image of a Rapidly Moving Pattern Can Be Perceived by Making a Saccade
Y. Takeda, M. Nagai, K. Kazai & A. Yagi
Ten undergraduate and two graduate students were required to identify the moving patterns. The two patterns were made of triangles; one with apices pointing up and the other with apices pointing down. A given pattern was moved rapidly on a CRT and the subject was asked to watch and say whether the triangles pointed up or down. When they fixated a single point, the correct responses were near chance. When they made a saccade across the moving pattern, their detection performance was significantly better. The subjects reported that they could perceive the static image of the pattern when the saccade was made. This result might be explained by the hypothesis that saccadic suppression reduces excessive visual input.

Key words: saccade, moving pattern, pattern identification, static image, saccadic suppression