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Journal of Vision Apr 2020Crowding is the deterioration of target identification in the presence of neighboring objects. Recent studies using appearance-based methods showed that the perceived...
Crowding is the deterioration of target identification in the presence of neighboring objects. Recent studies using appearance-based methods showed that the perceived number of target elements is often diminished in crowding. Here we introduce a related type of diminishment in repeating patterns (sets of parallel lines), which we term "redundancy masking." In four experiments, observers were presented with arrays of small numbers of lines centered at 10° eccentricity. The task was to indicate the number of lines. In Experiment 1, spatial characteristics of redundancy masking were examined by varying the inter-line spacing. We found that redundancy masking decreased with increasing inter-line spacing and ceased at spacings of approximately 0.25 times the eccentricity. In Experiment 2, we assessed whether the strength of redundancy masking differed between radial and tangential arrangements of elements as it does in crowding. Redundancy masking was strong with radially arranged lines (horizontally arranged vertical lines), and absent with tangentially arranged lines (vertically arranged horizontal lines). In Experiment 3, we investigated whether target size (line width and length) modulated redundancy masking. There was an effect of width: Thinner lines yielded stronger redundancy masking. We did not find any differences between the tested line lengths. In Experiment 4, we varied the regularity of the line arrays by vertically or horizontally jittering the positions of the lines. Redundancy masking was strongest with regular spacings and weakened with decreasing regularity. Our experiments show under which conditions whole items are lost in crowded displays, and how this redundancy masking resembles-and partly diverges from-crowded identification. We suggest that redundancy masking is a contributor to the deterioration of performance in crowded displays with redundant patterns.
Topics: Adult; Crowding; Female; Humans; Male; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Perceptual Masking; Visual Perception; Young Adult
PubMed: 32330230
DOI: 10.1167/jov.20.4.14 -
Psychological Research Nov 2018The overinvestment account of the attentional blink (AB) posits that the AB results from the allocation of more resources than necessary to encode a first target (T1),...
The overinvestment account of the attentional blink (AB) posits that the AB results from the allocation of more resources than necessary to encode a first target (T1), which in turn lowers the resources available to encode a second target (T2) shortly thereafter. Across two experiments, we examined whether resource allocation to T1, and thus overinvestment that results in an AB effect, might be limited by perceptual mechanisms that evaluate the need for encoding resources. The key result observed in both experiments was that a relatively easy to encode T1 can nonetheless result in an AB when it is perceptually similar to a more difficult to encode T1. The importance of experimental context as an influence on the allocation, or overinvestment, of attentional resources to T1 is highlighted by these findings.
Topics: Adult; Attentional Blink; Female; Humans; Male; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Perceptual Masking; Psychomotor Performance; Young Adult
PubMed: 28755012
DOI: 10.1007/s00426-017-0889-z -
Schizophrenia Bulletin 1989Many researchers have used backward masking to examine information-processing speed in schizophrenic subjects. The validity of this approach rests upon two main... (Review)
Review
Many researchers have used backward masking to examine information-processing speed in schizophrenic subjects. The validity of this approach rests upon two main assumptions. One is that the mask effectively limits the time a previously presented stimulus is available for processing. The other is that the components of the masking mechanism in schizophrenic subjects are comparable to those in control groups. It is argued that the masking procedures used in these studies fail to meet either assumption. Alternative interpretations of these investigations, however, suggest important hypotheses for further research in our quest to understand information-processing deficits associated with schizophrenia.
Topics: Humans; Models, Neurological; Perceptual Masking; Research Design; Schizophrenia; Visual Perception
PubMed: 2683042
DOI: 10.1093/schbul/15.3.491 -
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review Apr 2024Auditory categorization requires listeners to integrate acoustic information from multiple dimensions. Attentional theories suggest that acoustic dimensions that are...
Auditory categorization requires listeners to integrate acoustic information from multiple dimensions. Attentional theories suggest that acoustic dimensions that are informative attract attention and therefore receive greater perceptual weight during categorization. However, the acoustic environment is often noisy, with multiple sound sources competing for listeners' attention. Amid these adverse conditions, attentional theories predict that listeners will distribute attention more evenly across multiple dimensions. Here we test this prediction using an informational masking paradigm. In two experiments, listeners completed suprasegmental (focus) and segmental (voicing) speech categorization tasks in quiet or in the presence of competing speech. In both experiments, the target speech consisted of short words or phrases that varied in the extent to which fundamental frequency (F0) and durational information signalled category identity. To isolate effects of informational masking, target and competing speech were presented in opposite ears. Across both experiments, there was substantial individual variability in the relative weighting of the two dimensions. These individual differences were consistent across listening conditions, suggesting that they reflect stable perceptual strategies. Consistent with attentional theories of auditory categorization, listeners who relied on a single primary dimension in quiet shifted towards integrating across multiple dimensions in the presence of competing speech. These findings demonstrate that listeners make greater use of the redundancy present in speech when attentional resources are limited.
Topics: Humans; Speech Perception; Perceptual Masking; Attention; Adult; Young Adult; Female; Male
PubMed: 37658222
DOI: 10.3758/s13423-023-02364-5 -
Journal of the American Academy of... Mar 2000This report reviews research from the 1930s to the present that has extended our understanding by investigating the characteristics of tinnitus that can be studied using... (Review)
Review
This report reviews research from the 1930s to the present that has extended our understanding by investigating the characteristics of tinnitus that can be studied using psychoacoustic techniques. Studies of tinnitus masking and residual inhibition began in the 1970s, leading to the therapeutic use of tinnitus masking and a consequent increase in research devoted to tinnitus measurement. In 1981, the CIBA Foundation symposium on tinnitus advocated general adoption of four tinnitus measures: (1) pitch, (2) loudness, (3) maskability, and (4) residual inhibition. Since then, psychoacoustic research into all four topics has proliferated, yielding many valuable insights and controversies concerning the details of measurement techniques. A consensus has emerged that neither the loudness nor other psychoacoustic measures of tinnitus bear a consistent relation to the severity or perceived loudness of tinnitus. Nevertheless, quantification is needed in clinical trials of proposed treatments and in a variety of other types of tinnitus research. Standardization of techniques for specifying the acoustic parameters of tinnitus thus continues to be an important research goal.
Topics: Humans; Perceptual Masking; Pitch Perception; Psychoacoustics; Tinnitus
PubMed: 10755810
DOI: No ID Found -
Journal of Vision Apr 2019Spatiotemporal interactions between stimuli can alter the perceived curvature along the outline of a shape (Habak, Wilkinson, Zakher, & Wilson, 2004; Habak, Wilkinson, &...
Spatiotemporal interactions between stimuli can alter the perceived curvature along the outline of a shape (Habak, Wilkinson, Zakher, & Wilson, 2004; Habak, Wilkinson, & Wilson, 2006). To better understand these interactions, we used a forward and backward masking paradigm with radial frequency (RF) contours while measuring RF detection thresholds. In Experiment 1, we presented a mask alongside a target contour and altered the stimulus onset asynchrony between this target-mask pair and a temporal mask. We found that a temporal mask increased thresholds when it preceded the target-mask stimulus by 130-180 ms but decreased thresholds when it followed the target-stimulus mask by 180 ms. Furthermore, Experiment 2 demonstrated that the effects of temporal and spatial masks are approximately additive. We discuss these findings in relation to theories of transient and sustained channels in vision.
Topics: Adult; Form Perception; Humans; Male; Perceptual Masking; Spatio-Temporal Analysis; Young Adult
PubMed: 31026017
DOI: 10.1167/19.4.30 -
Developmental Science Sep 2004
Topics: Child Development; Cognition; Concept Formation; Humans; Infant; Knowledge; Models, Psychological; Perceptual Masking; Problem Solving; Psychology, Child; Visual Perception
PubMed: 15484589
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2004.00360.x -
Perceptual and Motor Skills Apr 1985Backward masking functions were evaluated in a paradigm in which target and masking stimuli were presented to opposite cerebral hemispheres using separate peripheral...
Backward masking functions were evaluated in a paradigm in which target and masking stimuli were presented to opposite cerebral hemispheres using separate peripheral pathways. Backward masking occurred dichoptically when the target and mask were projected to opposite hemispheres. These findings indicated that some effective masking mechanisms are mediated by interhemispheric interactions independent of retinal phenomena.
Topics: Adult; Dominance, Cerebral; Female; Humans; Male; Perceptual Masking; Retina; Visual Fields; Visual Perception
PubMed: 4000867
DOI: 10.2466/pms.1985.60.2.495 -
Consciousness and Cognition Oct 2017Working memory has long been thought to be closely related to consciousness. However, recent empirical studies show that unconscious content may be maintained within... (Review)
Review
Working memory has long been thought to be closely related to consciousness. However, recent empirical studies show that unconscious content may be maintained within working memory and that complex cognitive computations may be performed on-line. This promotes research on the exact relationships between consciousness and working memory. Current evidence for working memory being a conscious as well as an unconscious process is reviewed. Consciousness is shown to be considered a subset of working memory by major current theories of working memory. Evidence for unconscious elements in working memory is shown to come from visual masking and attentional blink paradigms, and from the studies of implicit working memory. It is concluded that more research is needed to explicate the relationship between consciousness and working memory. Future research directions regarding the relationship between consciousness and working memory are discussed.
Topics: Attentional Blink; Consciousness; Humans; Memory, Short-Term; Perceptual Masking; Visual Perception
PubMed: 28756199
DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2017.07.005 -
Vision Research Jan 2019Sensitivity to changes in the shape of a closed-contour figure is affected by surrounding figures (Vision Research 44 (2004) 2815-2823). We examined how between-contour...
Sensitivity to changes in the shape of a closed-contour figure is affected by surrounding figures (Vision Research 44 (2004) 2815-2823). We examined how between-contour masking depends on radial frequency. Experiment 1 replicated previous studies that found that masking between adjacent radial frequency (RF) patterns was greatest when the two shapes were phase aligned, and that the magnitude of masking declined approximately linearly with increasing phase offsets. In addition, we found that the effect of phase offset on masking was very similar for RFs ranging from 3 to 8, a result that suggests that sensitivity to phase decreases with increasing radial frequency. Experiment 2 tested this idea and found that phase discrimination threshold for single cycles of curvature was approximately proportional to radial frequency. Experiment 3 showed that both curvature maxima and minima contribute to phase dependent masking between RF contours. Together, Experiments 1-3 demonstrate that the strength of phase-dependent masking does not depend on RF, but is related to sensitivity for phase shifts in isolated contours, and is affected by both positive and negative curvature extrema. We discuss these results in relation to properties of curvature sensitive neurons.
Topics: Adult; Discrimination, Psychological; Form Perception; Humans; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Perceptual Masking; Psychophysics; Sensory Thresholds; Young Adult
PubMed: 30391293
DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2018.10.013