Effects of Information Processing Requirements on Reaction Time of the Eye

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Abstract
This experiment measured eye reaction time as a function of presence or absence of a central control task, type of command, and knowledge of target direction prior to command. It was found that eye reaction time was greater when a subject was involved in a central tracking task than when he was not; it was greater when the command was symbolic than when it was spatial; and it was longer when the target direction was unknown prior to command. These variables also interacted, so that the effect of unknown target direction was greater with a symbolic command. Results of this experiment also showed that subjects sometimes used an initial compensatory pattern of eye-head movements. There were large inter-subject differences, but use of compensation generally increased with complexity of centrally located information which required processing. It thus appears that reaction time of the eye responds to information processing variables in a manner similar to other motor response systems.