Inhibition of Return: Retinotopic, but Not Reflexive

Inhibition of return (IOR) is the term used to describe slower responses to a recently cued location. IOR has long been claimed to be reflexive, although the question of whether it is predominantly a functional process in visual search or an artefact of suppressing a motor response has been the subject of some debate. Here we show IOR is retinotopic across saccades in contrast with other studies that have suggested that the reference frame of IOR is spatiotopic. Although the existence of retinotopic IOR is consistent with a motor-artefact account, we also find that IOR depends on the predictability in the visual environment and as such suggests that IOR is strategically applied. The implications of these contradicting findings will be discussed in reference to the literature concerning the function and reference frame of IOR