Abstract
Errors in discriminating the letters O and D in a forced-choice design were measured with 4 Ss when the exposure of either letter was accompanied or followed by a ring encircling it. The delay between offset of the letter and onset of the ring varied from concurrent presentation of both, through 0 msec. delay to 120 msec. delay, in steps of 10 msec. The letter and ring were presented randomly in one of four positions in a centrally located row, with the other three positions always empty. Accuracy was a u-shaped function of the delay between letter and ring for all 4 Ss. An explanation of the discrepancy between these findings and those of Eriksen & Collins (1964) is offered.
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1
This research was completed at Yale University and supported in part by a United States Public Health Service Grant MH-03244 to the second author.
2
It should be noted that the rejection of “erasure” as the mechanism in masking does not necessarily reject the short-term visual information storage model of Averbach & Coriell (1961) or Sperling (1963).It merely rejects the notion that this short-term visual image is sensitive to erasure from incoming stimuli.
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Weisstein, N., Haber, R.N. A u-shaped backward masking function in vision. Psychon Sci 2, 75–76 (1965). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03343337
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03343337