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Testing Tactile Masking between the Forearms
Published on: February 10, 2016
Set size and mask duration do not interact in object-substitution masking.
Ioannis Argyropoulos1, Angus Gellatly, Michael Pilling
1Department of Psychology, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, UK. i.argyropoulos@brookes.ac.uk
Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance
|October 11, 2012
Summary
Object-substitution masking (OSM) is reduced target accuracy with trailing masks. New research suggests this effect, previously linked to attention, may be an artifact of data limitations, not attentional focus.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Visual Perception
Background:
- Object-substitution masking (OSM) is characterized by reduced target accuracy when a mask appears simultaneously with a target and disappears after it.
- Previous research suggested OSM occurs only when attention cannot be pre-focused on the target location.
Purpose of the Study:
- To re-evaluate the role of attention in object-substitution masking.
- To investigate the interaction between target display set size and trailing mask duration in OSM.
- To determine if previously reported interactions are artifacts of experimental design.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of existing literature on OSM and attentional interactions.
- Six experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that ceiling effects artifact OSM interactions.
- Systematic manipulation of display parameters to induce or avoid ceiling effects.
Main Results:
- The reported interaction between target display set size and trailing mask duration in OSM was absent unless a ceiling effect was induced.
- Evidence suggesting attention modulates OSM was re-analyzed, revealing potential explanations beyond attentional control, such as ceiling effects.
- Experimental data consistently showed the absence of the attention-OSM interaction under non-ceiling conditions.
Conclusions:
- The interaction between display set size and trailing mask duration in OSM is likely an artifact of ceiling effects.
- The role of attention in object-substitution masking may be overestimated, with ceiling effects providing an alternative explanation for previous findings.
- A revised conceptualization of object-substitution masking is needed, considering the influence of experimental artifacts.
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