Control of fixation duration in a simple search task

To obtain insight into the control of fixation duration during visual search, we had 4 subjects perform simple search tasks in which we systematically varied the discriminability of the target. The experiment was carried out under two conditions. Under the first condition (blocked), the discriminability of the target was kept constant during a session. Under the second condition (mixed), the discriminability of the target varied per trial. Under the blocked condition, fixation duration increased with decreasing discriminability. For 2 subjects, we found much shorter fixation durations in difficult trials with the mixed condition than in difficult trials with the blocked condition. Overall, the subjects fixated the target, continued to search, and then went back to the target in 5%–55% of the correct trials. In these trials, the result of the analysis of the foveal target was not used for preparing the next saccade. The results support a preprogramming model of the control of fixation duration. In a simple search task, control of fixation duration appears to be indirect.