The autokinetic reports of 64 male Ss reflected to a significant extent the direction of compensatory eye movements which had been experimentally manipulated using a retinal image displacement technique. A tracking device was used to record the seconds per trial that the stimulus appeared in each of four visual field quadrants, a temporal measure of magnitude, latency, and direction of initial movement. The results suggest compensatory eye movements associated with the maintenance of single-point binocular fixation and consequent reduction of the disruptive effects of heterophorically stimulated fixation disparity, as the visual mechanism primarily responsible for the autokinetic phenomenon.
ComalliP. E.WernerH.WapnerS.Studies in physiognomic perception: III. Effect of directional dynamics and meaning induced sets on autokinetic motion. J. Psychol., 1957, 43, 289–299.
3.
EdwardsA. L.Experimental design in psychological research. New York: Rinehart, 1960.
4.
LintonH. B.Autokinetic judgments as a measure of influence. J. ahnorm. soc. Psychol., 1954, 49, 464–466.
5.
MarshallJ. E.An experimental evaluation of the relationship between eye movements and the autokinetic phenomenon. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Temple Univer., 1963.
6.
MatinL.MacKinnonG. E.Autokinetic movement: Selective manipulation of directional components by image stabilization. Science, 1964, 143, 147–148.
7.
MillerA.WernerH.WapnerS.Studies in physiognomic perception: V. Effects of ascending and descending gliding tones on autokinetic motion. J. Psychol., 1958, 46, 101–105.
8.
RiggsL. A.ArmingtonJ. C.RatliffF.Motions of the retinal image during fixation. J. Opt. Soc. Amer., 1954, 44, 315–321.
9.
ScobeeR. G.The oculorotary muscles. (2nd ed.) St. Louis: Mosby, 1952.
10.
SkolnickA.The role of eye movements in the autokinetic phenomenon. J. exp. Psychol., 1940, 26, 373–393.
11.
TaitE. F.Textbook of refraction. Philadelphia: Saunders, 1951.
12.
WalterN.A study of the effects of conflicting suggestions upon judgments in the autokinetic situation. Sociometry, 1955, 18, 138–146.
13.
WhitesideT. C. D.GraybielA.NivenJ. I.Visual illusions of movement. Brain, 1965, 88, 193–210.
