Abstract
Two masking experiments were carried out. In the first, duration thresholds were measured for a 10 min black test disc paired with a larger concentric black mask, ranging in size from 15 min to 2 deg. The stimuli were tachistoscopically presented centrally, or at 2 deg or 6 deg in the left binocular field. As mask diameter increased, test threshold decreased in a negatively accelerated function, which approached an asymptote below the unmasked condition. All functions are similar with systematic upward shifts for more peripheral stimulation. In Experiment 2, threshold luminance was adjusted for a 1 deg, 5-msec test flash paired with a 250-mseC., 34-mL mask, ranging from 1 deg to 6.2 deg in diameter. Stimuli were presented in Maxwellian view at 7.2 deg in the right eye nasal field. Results were similar to Experiment 1, except that the asymptote is significantly above the control condition. Both experimental results support a border inhibition hypothesis.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
BATTERSBY, W. S., & WAGMAN, I. H. Neural limitations of visual excitability. IV: spatial determinants of retrochiasmal interaction.Amer. J. Physiol., 1962, 203, 359–365.
CRAWFORD, B. H. The effect of field size and pattern on the change of visual sensitivity with time.Proc Roy. Soc. London, 1940, 129B, 94–106.
FRUMKES, T. E., & STURR, J. F. Spatial deterrninants of visual excitability.J. Opt. Soc Amer., 1967, 57, 581 (abstract).
KOLERS, P. A. Intensity and contour effects in visual masking.Vision Res., 1962, 2, 277–294.
POLLACK, R. H. Effect of figure-ground contrast and contour orientation on figurai masking.Psychon. Sci., 1965, 2, 369–370.
RATLIFF, F.Mach bands: quantitative studies on neural networks in the retina. San Francisco: Holden-Day, 1965.
SPERLING, G. Temporal and spatial visual masking. I. Masking by impulse flashes.J. Opt Soc. Amer., 1965, 55, 541–559.
STREICHER, H. W., & POLLACK, R. H. Backward figurai masking as a function of intercontour distance.Psychon. Sci., 1967, 7, 69–70.
STURR, J. F., & FRUMKES, T. E. Facilitation and inhibition of target visibility by the spatial characteristics of the surround field.J. Opt. Soc Amer., 1966, 56, 542–543 (abstract).
STURR, J. F., FRUMKES, T. E., & VENERUSO, D. M. Spatial determinants of visual masking: effects of mask size and retinal position.Psychon. Sci., 1965, 3, 326–327.
WERNER, H. Studies on contour: I. Qualitative analysis.Amer. J. Psychol., 1935, 47, 40–64.
WESTHEIMER, G. Spatial interaction in the human retina during scotopic vision.J. Physiol., 1965, 181, 881–894.
WESTHEIMER, G. Spatial interaction in human cone vision.J. Physiol., 1967, 190, 139–154.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported in part by Grant NB06618 from the National Institutes of Neurological Diseases and Blindness.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sturr, J.F., Frumkes, T.E. Spatial factors in masking with black or white targets. Perception & Psychophysics 4, 282–284 (1968). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210515
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210515