Abstract
It is argued that lateral masking is a composite of several processes. These processes include response competition, distribution of attention, perceptual grouping, and feature (contour) interaction. Three experiments were carried out in an attempt to isolate some of the components. In the first two experiments, it was shown that feature interaction dominates at close spacing but other processes dominate at wider spacing. The third experiment showed that at least part of the effect of perceptual grouping appears to be information provided about target location.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Banks, W. P., &Prinzmetal, W. Configurational effects in visual information processing.Perception & Psychophysics, 1976,19, 361–367.
Banks, W. P., Larson, D. W., &Prinzmetal, W. Asymmetry of visual interference.Perception & Psychophysics, 1979,25, 447–456.
Bjork, E. L., &Murray, J. T. On the nature of input channels in visual processing.Psychological Review, 1977,84, 472–484.
Bouma, H. Interaction effects in parafoveal letter recognition.Nature, 1970,226, 177–178.
Bouma, H. Visual interference in the parafoveal recognition of initial and final letters of words.Vision Research, 1973,13, 767–782.
Chastain, G., &Lawson, L. Identification asymmetry of parafoveal stimulus pairs.Perception & Psychophysics, 1979,26, 363–368.
Eriksen, B. A., &Eriksen, C. W. Effects of noise letters upon the identification of a target letter in a nonsearch task.Perception & Psychophysics, 1974,16, 143–149.
Eriksen, C. W., &Hoffman, J. E. The extent of processing of noise elements during selective encoding from visual displays.Perception & Psychophysics, 1973,14, 155–160.
Eriksen, C. W., &Rohrbaugh, J. W. Some factors determining efficiency of selective attention.American Journal of Psychology, 1970,113, 330–342.
Eriksen, C. W., &Schultz, D. W. {tTemporal factors in visual information processing}. In J. Requin (Ed.),Attention and performance VII. Hillsdale, N.J: Erlbaum, 1978.
Estes, W. K. Interactions of signal and background variables in visual processing.Perception & Psychophysics, 1972,12, 278–286.
Flom, M. C., Weymouth, F. W., &Kahneman, D. Visual resolution and contour interaction.Journal of the Optical Society of America, 1963,53, 1026–1032.
Fuld, K. A sensitization effect with rectilinear stimuli.Vision Research, 1978,18, 1045–1051.
Hubel, D. H., &Wiesel, T. N. Ferrier lecture: Functional architecture of macaque monkey visual cortex.Proceedings of the Royal Society of London (Series B), 1977,198, 1–59.
Kahneman, D., &Henik, A. Effects of visual grouping on immediate recall and selective attention. In S. Dornic (Ed.),Attention and performance VI. Hillsdale, N.J: Erlbaum, 1977.
Kolers, P. A., &Rosner, B. S. On visual masking (metacontrast): Dichoptic observation.American Journal of Psychology, 1960,73, 2–21.
Krumhansl, C. L. Naming and locating simultaneously and sequentially presented letters.Perception & Psychophysics, 1977,22, 293–302.
Mackworth, N. H. Visual noise causes tunnel vision.Psychonomic Science, 1965,3, 67–68.
Matthews, M. L. Locus of presentation and the selective masking effect.Canadian Journal of Psychology, 1973,27, 343–349.
Prinzmetal, W. Principles of feature integration in visual perception.Perception & Psychophysics, 1981,30, 330–340.
Santee, J. L., &Egeth, H. E. Independence versus interference in the perceptual processing of letters.Perception & Psychophysics, 1982,31, 101–116.
Treisman, A., &Schmidt, H. Illusory conjunctions in the perception of objects.Cognitive Psychology, 1982,14, 107–141.
Wolford, G. Perturbation model for letter identification.Psychological Review, 1975,82, 184–199.
Wolford, G., &Hollingsworth, S. Lateral masking in visual information processing.Perception & Psychophysics, 1974,16, 315–320.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported, in part, by NIMH Grant MH 33179. The article was written while the first author was visiting the MRC Applied Psychology Unit in Cambridge, England.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wolford, G., Chambers, L. Lateral masking as a function of spacing. Perception & Psychophysics 33, 129–138 (1983). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03202830
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03202830