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Reentrant processing mediates object substitution masking: comment on Põder (2013)
1Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC Canada.
Frontiers in Psychology
|August 20, 2014
Summary
Object-substitution masking (OSM) is impaired by trailing masks. Evidence supports reentrant processing, not feed-forward models, for explaining this visual perception phenomenon.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive psychology
- Neuroscience
- Visual perception
Background:
- Object-substitution masking (OSM) involves target stimuli and masks briefly displayed together.
- Target identification accuracy decreases with increased trailing mask duration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate feed-forward versus reentrant processing accounts of OSM.
- To determine which model best explains existing evidence on OSM.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of phenomenological, behavioral, brain-imaging, and electrophysiological data.
- Critique of the feed-forward assumption regarding attention and degraded targets.
Main Results:
- The feed-forward account contradicts existing empirical evidence.
- The feed-forward assumption about attention is considered ad hoc.
- Evidence consistently supports a reentrant-processing explanation for OSM.
Conclusions:
- Reentrant processing provides a robust explanation for object-substitution masking.
- Feed-forward models are insufficient to account for OSM phenomena.