Information-processing time was compared for serial and spatially distributed visual presentations with performance measures that permit the separation of total time into its during-display and post-display components. For all subjects, there was a significant saccadic overhead, that is, less time was required with the serial format, which allowed data access without eye movements. However, the magnitude of the overhead decreased as task complexity increased. All subjects were able to exercise some control over the distribution of total processing time, trading off short during-display times with longer post-display times and vice versa.The purpose of the present research was to measure the "cost" of a saccadic eye movement. Our strategy was to measure information-processing time under two conditions, serial and spatially distributed. The former allowed information access without eye movements and the latter required them. However, all other aspects of the experimental procedures were strictly identical. The serial/spatial processing time difference is operationally defined here as the saccadic overhead.

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