Two experiments were conducted to investigate performance with and without eye movements in a dynamic stimulus situation. The first experiment involved a dual task comprised of a primary tracking task, and a secondary prediction task. Level of training, complexity of the signal, and visual region sampled were the variables of interest. Experiment two manipulated the same variables in only the prediction task. In this way the level of attention allotted to the prediction task was varied between experiments. The d' score results indicated that under peripheral vision instructions accuracy on the prediction task was at the same level as under foveal vision instructions provided that: 1) the level of task complexity was low, 2) the subjects were well training, and 3) only the prediction task was performed, or in the dual task situation only visual angles near the fovea were sampled. All other combinations the variables resulted in a lower level of performance under peripheral vision instructions. (A)
Abstract