Endogenous Saccade Preparation Does Not Produce Inhibition of Return: Failure to Replicate Rafal, Calabresi, Brennan, & Sciolto (1989)

Inhibition of Return (IOR, slower reaction times to previously cued or inspected locations) is observed both when eye movements are prohibited, and when the eyes move to the peripheral location and back to the centre before the target appears. It has been postulated that both effects are generated by a common mechanism, the activation of the oculomotor system. In strong support of this claim, IOR is not observed when attention is oriented endogenously and covertly, but it has been observed when eye movements are endogenously prepared, even when not executed. Here, we aimed to replicate and extend the finding that endogenous saccade preparation produces IOR. In five experiments using different paradigms. IOR was not observed when participants endogenously prepared an eye movement. These results lead us to conclude that endogenous saccade preparation is not sufficient to produce IOR.