EYE MOVEMENT AND PULFRICH EFFECT

The saccadic suppression theory of the Pulfrich effect proposes that the input from each eye is altemately suppressed during saccadic eye movements. This paper describes an empirical test of this theory by monitoring horizontal eye movements. The results show that the Pulfrich effect occurs whether the eyes fixate upon a stationary point, fixate upon the moving pendulum bob, or partially track the pendulum. The effect is present with both conjunctive and disjunctive eye movements. These data do not support the saccadic suppression theory, at least so faras macrosaccadic movement is concerned. © 1969 Psychonomic Journals, Inc.