On the possibility of intermittence during fixations: a conceptual assessment.

A prevalent tacit assumption of the continuity of visual representation during fixations is challenged and shown to be logically tenuous. Relying upon three lines of suggestive evidence, it is then argued that representation must be in the form of static snapshots which alternate with very short dark periods wherein the image is omitted from vision. In view of the difficulties of a direct experimental verification of such a high-frequency intermittence, a conceptual approach to the question is defended.