MOVEMENT AND DISTORTION IN VISUAL PATTERNS DURING PROLONGED FIXATION

H onisett , J., and O ldfield , R. C. Movement and distortion in visual patterns during prolonged fixation. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1960, 2 , 49–55.—Observations are reported from which it appears that if fixation upon a single point in a complex visual field is maintained for periods of half a minute or more a proportion of normal individuals experience movement of the whole field or of parts of it. Changing distortions of form and pattern can result. Some types of this movement are, it is thought, improbably due to intrinsic or extrinsic ocular changes, and more resemble the autokinetic phenomenon. It is suggested that eye-movements and their visual consequences are indispensable to the maintenance of a stable coordinate system in the visual world.