TRACKING skills:

fixation

central peripheral integration

pursuits

saccades

Saccades (sa-cahdes) are rapid, ballistic movements of the eyes that abruptly change the point of fixation. Our eyes must be able to quickly and accurately shift from one target to another because we need to shift our gaze for such things as road sign to speedometer, board to paper, notes to computer. This is a critical skill for reading when we must track in a straight line and reverse sweep to the beginning of the line. We think this is a smooth tracking but in fact reading is composed of small jerks, saccades. The ability to make accurate saccades involves a precise coordination between central and peripheral visual systems. Our central vision processes what we’re looking at in clear detail and defines what we’re seeing (what is it?) while our peripheral vision simultaneously locates the next target to let us know where to aim our eyes during the next saccade (where is it?)