Foveal Load Affects the Functional Field of View

Abstract

The results of three tachistoscopic experiments are reported, which suggest that the functional or useful field of view is very sensitive to foveal demands (load). As the foveal primary task becomes more difficult, peripheral information extraction is perturbed, and it is perturbed increasingly as the retinal eccentricity of the peripheral information increases. This is the case even when compensatory adjustments are made for acuity loss. The results are discussed in terms of tunnel vision and general interference models.