Selective Masking and Processing Strategy

Brian E. Butler; Philip M. Merikle

doi:10.1080/14640747308400376

Selective Masking and Processing Strategy

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology ◽

10.1080/14640747308400376 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 542-548 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Brian E. Butler ◽

Philip M. Merikle

Keyword(s):

Masking Effect ◽

Processing Strategy ◽

Masking Stimulus

A patterned masking stimulus was presented immediately following a 100-ms exposure of a centrally-fixated, eight-letter row. The bar-marker probe, indicating which letter to report, appeared either at onset (simultaneous cue), or at offset (delayed cue) of a letter row. A selective-masking effect—greater masking at the centre positions than at the ends of a row—was obtained with the delayed cue. With the simultaneous cue, all positions were masked and there was no selective-masking effect. These results indicate that the effects of a patterned masking stimulus are dependent upon the processing strategy, and they support previous interpretations of selective masking which state that it is produced by an ends-first processing strategy.

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Opponent Hues in Visual Masking

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1978.46.3.979 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 46 (3) ◽

pp. 979-983

Author(s):

Michael Gamble

Keyword(s):

Test Stimulus ◽

Color Vision ◽

Visual Masking ◽

Masking Effect ◽

Subjective Confidence ◽

Temporal And Spatial ◽

Masking Stimulus ◽

Temporal Interactions ◽

Temporal Sequences ◽

Forward Sequence

Temporal interactions among opponent and non-opponent hues were investigated in a visual masking paradigm in which both backward and forward temporal sequences were employed. Subjective confidence ratings rather than identification thresholds alone served as response indicators for masking sequences. Results indicate that in the backward sequence (test stimulus followed by masking stimulus) a greater masking effect occurred when the stimuli were of non-opponent hue pairs (red-yellow, red-blue, green-yellow, green-blue) than when compared with opponent hue pairs (red-green, yellow-blue). For the forward sequence (test stimulus preceded by masking stimulus) the masking effect was reduced when compared with the backward sequence. These findings appear to reflect the presumed temporal and spatial antagonistic qualities of opponent hue processes as postulated in the Hering model of color vision.

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Temporal Aspects of Selective Masking

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology ◽

10.1080/14640747508400497 ◽

1975 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 375-385 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Douglas G. Lowe

Keyword(s):

Iconic Memory ◽

Partial Report ◽

Masking Effect ◽

Minimal Effect ◽

Selective Effect ◽

Random Letter ◽

Temporal Aspects ◽

Masking Stimulus

In two experiments, rows of random letter sequences were presented for 100 ms and were patterned masked at varying delays after display offset. In Experiment I recall was probed by visual partial report cues, while auditory probes were employed in Experiment II. Compared to no-masking control conditions, the masking stimulus had a selective effect at the different positions of the rows. The masking stimulus produced the largest decrements in recall of letters from the centre positions of the displays but had a minimal effect on performance at either end of the rows. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that improvements in recall were limited to the centre positions of the rows at increased delays of mask. Subsidiary analyses revealed that processing of the end letters of the displays terminates shortly after display offset while processing of the centre letters continues for at least 500 ms. The results are consistent with the notion that processing of multi-letter arrays commences at the ends of the rows and that the selective masking effect reflects the order of processing of the contents of iconic memory. However, these results were evident only in Experiment II which employed auditory partial report cues. When the partial report cues were visual, there were no effects of masking and minimal increases in performance at increased delays of mask. The discrepant results of the two experiments are discussed in terms of process interruption caused by obligatory attention to the partial report cues.

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Forward masking of auditory nerve fiber responses

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.1979.42.4.1083 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 42 (4) ◽

pp. 1083-1107 ◽

Cited By ~ 279

Author(s):

D. M. Harris ◽

P. Dallos

Keyword(s):

Time Constant ◽

Auditory Nerve ◽

Time Course ◽

Forward Masking ◽

Response Magnitude ◽

Masking Effect ◽

Masker Level ◽

Frequency Threshold ◽

Masking Stimulus ◽

Probe Response

1. Responses of single fibers were obtained from the auditory nerve of chinchillas. Tone-burst stimuli consisted of a masking stimulus followed by a probe stimulus. Forward masking of a fiber's response is defined as a reduction in the magnitude of the probe-evoked response caused by the addition of the masking stimulus. 2. The recovery of probe response magnitude as a function of the time interval between masker offset and probe onset (delta T) follows an exponential time course. A relationship between the time course or magnitude of poststimulus recovery and the characteristic frequency (CF) of a fiber was not detected. 3. The iso-forward masking contour near the threshold of the masking effect across masker frequencies approximates a fiber's frequency threshold curve (FTC). In other words, forward masking tuning curves are essentially the same as frequency threshold curves. 4. The frequency dependence of forward masking is compared to that of two-tone suppression. Tonal stimuli outside the boundaries of a fiber's FTC that produce two-tone suppression are ineffective forward maskers. Certain frequency/intensity combinations within the FTC may produce both suppression and forward masking and tones within the remaining area of the FTC produce no suppression but are effective forward maskers. 5. Both the time course and the magnitude of the forward masking effect are dependent on the discharge rate evoked by the masker regardless of the masker's absolute level or spectral content. An increase in masker-evoked excitation causes an increase in time constant and a greater reduction in probe response magnitude, rd. The function relating rd to masker level parallels the firing rate/masker level function up to 40 dB above response threshold. 6. A decrease in masker duration from 100 ms leads to a decrease in both rd and the time constant of recovery. There is no significant difference between the 100 and 200 ms duration conditions. 7. Forward masking in single fibers is related to the period of poststimulus recovery of spontaneous activity, a component of a fiber's response pattern to the masker, and this component is tentatively identified as a period of recovery from short-term adaptation.

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Metacontrast, target recovery, and the magno- and parvocellular systems: A perspective

Visual Neuroscience ◽

10.1017/s0952523807070228 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

pp. 177-181 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

BERNT C. SKOTTUN ◽

JOHN R. SKOYLES

Keyword(s):

Time Course ◽

Target Stimulus ◽

Masking Effect ◽

Magnocellular System ◽

Target Recovery ◽

Masking Stimulus

In metacontrast a masking stimulus reduces the visibility of an adjacent target stimulus. This effect has been interpreted in terms of magno-/parvocellular interactions. It has also been found that a second masking stimulus, which precedes the primary mask by about 90 ms reduces the masking effect. This reduction, which is termed “target recovery,” has been hypothesized to reflect parvocellular inhibition of the magnocellular system. However, this is problematic because the time course of this effect is much larger than would be expected from magno-/parvocellular interactions. For this and other reasons, it is difficult to understand metacontrast in terms of magno- and parvocellular mechanisms.

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The Mere Exposure Effect and Recognition Depend on the Way You Look! *S. W. and J. D. contributed equally to this study.

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000023 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 57 (3) ◽

pp. 185-192 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Sylvie Willems ◽

Jonathan Dedonder ◽

Martial Van der Linden

Keyword(s):

Differential Effect ◽

Recognition Task ◽

Mere Exposure ◽

Perceptual Processing ◽

Processing Strategy ◽

Mere Exposure Effect ◽

Exposure Effect ◽

Processing Strategies ◽

Explicit Recognition ◽

Analytic Strategy

In line with Whittlesea and Price (2001) , we investigated whether the memory effect measured with an implicit memory paradigm (mere exposure effect) and an explicit recognition task depended on perceptual processing strategies, regardless of whether the task required intentional retrieval. We found that manipulation intended to prompt functional implicit-explicit dissociation no longer had a differential effect when we induced similar perceptual strategies in both tasks. Indeed, the results showed that prompting a nonanalytic strategy ensured performance above chance on both tasks. Conversely, inducing an analytic strategy drastically decreased both explicit and implicit performance. Furthermore, we noted that the nonanalytic strategy involved less extensive gaze scanning than the analytic strategy and that memory effects under this processing strategy were largely independent of gaze movement.

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