Abstract
The present experiment was designed to replicate and elaborate two earlier findings: (1)that certain visual targets comprising alternating black and white pie-shaped segments are both relatively difficult to detect in the absence of a masking figure and relatively easy to detect when followed by a masking stimulus, and (2) that detection of some such targets is actually enhanced when the annular masking figure is presented. In general, those results were obtained in this experiment, though enhancement was evident for targets having from 16 to 32 segments, whereas previous research suggested that the enhancement effect would fail somewhere between the values of 16 and 32.
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References
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Supported by Grants EY 00481-06 from the National Eye Institute and GB 33621 from the National Science Foundation to William N. Dember.
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Dember, W.N., Mathews, W.D. & Stefl, M. Backward masking and enhancement of multisegmented visual targets. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 1, 45–47 (1973). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333335
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333335