Abstract
Most theories of visual masking concentrate on the effects of a mask on a target. The present study departs from this position and investigates the manner in which a suppressed target alters the perception of a mask. A visual backward masking paradigm was employed, except that subjects were to identify characteristics of the mask rather than the target. A 5 by 5 square matrix of points, composed of either horizontal or vertical vectors, served as the mask. The mask was observed in both the presence and absence of preceding target stimuli. If observed in the absence of a target, the mask points appeared static and simultaneous. If preceded by a target, the mask points appeared to move in accordance with the orientation of the target. This finding implies a mutual sort of target-mask interaction. Several theoretical implications are discussed.
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This research was supported by Grant BMS75-09800 from the National Science Foundation to the last author. The authors wish to thank Dr. Deborah Holmes and Dr. R. Bowen for their helpful advice and thoughtful assistance during the preparation of this manuscript.
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Carlson, K., Mayzner, M.S. A reassessment of target-mask interaction in visual backward masking. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 9, 227–229 (1977). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336983
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336983