Predictiveness of a visual distractor modulates saccadic responses to auditory targets.

We are faster to orient our eyes toward a visual target that also produces a sound. Conversely, the response to an auditory target is prolonged if a visual distractor is presented at a spatially incongruent position. Here, participants exhibited faster saccadic reaction times when an auditory target was more likely to be presented opposite to a visual distractor than when the stimuli only rarely occurred in spatial disparity. In contrast to experiments with visual targets and an auditory distractor, a spatially congruent visual distractor did not facilitate the response to an auditory target. We interpret the results in terms of an ocular inhibition process to suppress an automatic orienting response to the location of the visual distractor. This process is shown to be modulated by the predictability of target location.