Evidence for an interruption theory of backward masking
01 Aug 1970-Journal of Experimental Psychology (American Psychological Association)-Vol. 85, Iss: 2, pp 198-203
About: This article is published in Journal of Experimental Psychology.The article was published on 1970-08-01. It has received 149 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Backward masking & Masking (art).
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1,180 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, two masking processes were found: an early process affected by physical factors such as adapting luminance, and a later process influenced by attentional factors, called masking by object substitution, which occurs whenever there is a mismatch between the reentrant visual representation and the ongoing lower level activity.
Abstract: Advances in neuroscience implicate reentrant signaling as the predominant form of communication between brain areas. This principle was used in a series of masking experiments that defy explanation by feed-forward theories. The masking occurs when a brief display of target plus mask is continued with the mask alone. Two masking processes were found: an early process affected by physical factors such as adapting luminance and a later process affected by attentional factors such as set size. This later process is called masking by object substitution, because it occurs whenever there is a mismatch between the reentrant visual representation and the ongoing lower level activity. Iterative reentrant processing was formalized in a computational model that provides an excellent fit to the data. The model provides a more comprehensive account of all forms of visual masking than do the long-held feed-forward views based on inhibitory contour interactions.
728 citations
Cites background from "Evidence for an interruption theory..."
...Two major processes are hypothesized to be involved: integration of contours and interruption of processing (Kahneman, 1968; Scheerer, 1973; Spencer & Shuntich,1970)....
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...The important issue is that masking by integration is not affected by the distribution of attention (Spencer & Shuntich, 1970) and, therefore, must be modeled differently from masking by interruption....
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...An experiment by Spencer and Shuntich (1970) is especially relevant because it revealed substantial set-size effects on both the strength and the temporal course of masking....
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TL;DR: A new theory of visual masking, inspired by developments in neuroscience, can account for several recently described backward masking effects, including masking by four small dots that surround (but do not touch) a target object and masks by a surrounding object that remains on display after the target object has been turned off.
686 citations
TL;DR: An inverse relationship between duration of inducing stimulus and duration of sensory persistence is suggested and allows the inference that visual persistence may be identified more fittingly with ongoing neural processes than with the decaying contents of an iconic store.
Abstract: SUMMARY Iconic memory has often been likened to a sensory store whose contents drain away rapidly as soon as the inducing stimulus is turned off. Instances of short-lived visible persistence have been explained in terms of the decaying contents of iconic store. A fundamental requirement of this storage model is that strength of persistence should be a decreasing function of time elapsed since the cessation—not since the onset—of the inducing stimulation. That is, strength of visible persistence may be directly related—but not inversely related—to the duration of the inducing stimulus. Two complementary paradigms were utilized in the present studies. In the first paradigm performance was facilitated by visible persistence in that the task required the bridging of a temporal gap between two successive displays. In the second paradigm (forward visual masking by pattern), performance was impaired by lingering visible persistence of the temporally leading mask. Both paradigms yielded evidence of an inverse relationship between duration of inducing stimulus and duration of visible persistence. More specifically, in a task requiring temporal integration of a pattern displayed briefly in two successive portions, performance was severely impaired if the duration of the leading part exceeded about 100 msec. This suggests an inverse relationship between duration of inducing stimulus and duration of sensory persistence and allows the inference that visual persistence may be identified more fittingly with ongoing neural processes than with the decaying contents of an iconic store. In keeping with this suggestion, two experiments disconfirmed the conjecture that lack of temporal integration following long inducing stimuli could be ascribed to emergence of unitary form separately in the two portions of the display or to the triggering of some sort of discontinuity detection mechanism within the visual system. In added support of a "processing" model, two further studies showed that the severity of forward masking by pattern declines sharply as the duration of the leading mask is increased. This pattern of results is equally unsupportive of a storage theory of iconic persistence as of perceptual moment theory in any of its versions. This is so because both theories regard interstimulus interval rather than stimulus-onset asynchrony as the crucial factor in temporal integration. Neither can the results be explained in terms of receptor adaptation or of metacontrast suppression. The theory of inhibitory channel interactions can encompass the more prominent aspects of the results but fails to account for foveal suppression and for some crucial temporal effects.
380 citations
References
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01 Jan 1962TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce the principles of estimation and inference: means and variance, means and variations, and means and variance of estimators and inferors, and the analysis of factorial experiments having repeated measures on the same element.
Abstract: CHAPTER 1: Introduction to Design CHAPTER 2: Principles of Estimation and Inference: Means and Variance CHAPTER 3: Design and Analysis of Single-Factor Experiments: Completely Randomized Design CHAPTER 4: Single-Factor Experiments Having Repeated Measures on the Same Element CHAPTER 5: Design and Analysis of Factorial Experiments: Completely-Randomized Design CHAPTER 6: Factorial Experiments: Computational Procedures and Numerical Example CHAPTER 7: Multifactor Experiments Having Repeated Measures on the Same Element CHAPTER 8: Factorial Experiments in which Some of the Interactions are Confounded CHAPTER 9: Latin Squares and Related Designs CHAPTER 10: Analysis of Covariance
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TL;DR: This chapter discusses design and analysis of single-Factor Experiments: Completely Randomized Design and Factorial Experiments in which Some of the Interactions are Confounded.
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TL;DR: Results indicate that the visual process involves a buffer storage which includes an erasure mechanism that is local in character and tends to erase stored information when new information is put in.
Abstract: Experiments are performed that demonstrate some of the functional properties of short-term storage in the visual system, its decay, readout and erasure. Results indicate that the visual process involves a buffer storage which includes an erasure mechanism that is local in character and tends to erase stored information when new information is put in. Storage time appears to be of the order of one-quarter second; storage capacity is more difficult to assess.
861 citations
TL;DR: A model for visual recall tasks was presented in terms of visual information storage, scanning, rehearsal, and auditory information storage and the main implication of the model for human factors is the importance of the auditory coding in visual tasks.
Abstract: A model for visual recall tasks was presented in terms of visual information storage (VIS), scanning, rehearsal, and auditory information storage (AIS). It was shown first that brief visual stimuli...
784 citations
TL;DR: Classifies the various paradigms in the study of visual masking and relates them to cases of interference among cotemporaneous stimuli and introduces a distinction between criterion content and criterion level in the discussion of detection under masks and metacontrast.
Abstract: Classifies the various paradigms in the study of visual masking and relates them to cases of interference among cotemporaneous stimuli. The dependent variables in masking studies are described. A distinction between criterion content and criterion level is introduced in the discussion of detection under masking and metacontrast. Various conceptions of identification of forms under masking and the contributions of masking effects to the study of psychological time are reviewed. (3 p. ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved) Language: en
616 citations