Visual Masking: Studying Perception, Attention, and Consciousness

by Talis Bachmann, Gregory Francis

Overview

Visual masking is a technique used in cognitive research to understand pre-conscious processes (priming, for example), consciousness, visual limits, and perception issues associated with psychopathology. This book is a short format review of research using visual masking: how it has been used, and what these experiments have discovered.Topics covered include concepts, varieties, and theories of masking; masking and microgenetic mechanisms and stagesof visual processing; psychopharmacological and genetic factors in masking, and more. - Provides succinct information about the widely dispersed masking studies and points out some new trends in masking research - Reviews transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as an alternative to the traditional psychophysical masking methods - Comments on the methodological pitfalls hidden in the practice of masking, helping to improve the quality of future research where masking is used as a tool - Informs readers about recent developments in theoretical attempts to understand masking

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780128003831
Publisher:	Elsevier Science & Technology Books
Publication date:	11/13/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	116
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Talis Bachmann is a professor in the departments of law and psychology at the University of Tartu in Estonia, specializing in Cognitive and Forensic Psychology. He is also head of the Perception and Consciousness group in the Estonian Center of Behavioral and Health Sciences. He is on the Executive Board of the Union of Estonian Psychologists, and is a member of the Association for Scientific Studies of Consciousness, and Association for Psychological Science. He currently serves on the board of Consciousness and Cognition, was the former co-editor of Acta Universitatis Scientiarum Socialium et Artis Educandi Tallinnensis, and was a former board member on The European Journal of Cognitive Psychology. He is an author of 190 academic publications.Talis is regarded as one of the leading experts in masking, microgenesis, and perception of pixelated visual images.

Table of Contents

PrefaceIntroductionThe Concept of Masking, Varieties of Masking, and Main Theories of MaskingLearning and individual Differences in MaskingCriterion Contents and Subjective Contents in MaskingMasking and Attention: Pre- and Posttarget EffectsMasking and Attention: OSMMasking and NCCMasked Priming and Unconscious ProcessingHow Masking Depends on the Visual characteristics of the Target and Mask StimuliUncovering the Microgenetic Mechanisms and Stages of Visual Processing by MaskingNovel Approaches in Masking ResearchMasking by TMSModeling and Theoretical Accounts of MaskingPsychopharmacological and Genetic Factors in MaskingApplied Aspects of Masking Research: Medicine and TechnologyGeneralizations and ConclusionsAcknowledgementsReferences

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Review of research using visual masking with special emphasise on the novel aspects having emerged just recently that have not been comprehensively reviewed so far

Editorial Reviews

"Reading the book is not only instructive but also fun. It portrays many surprising new findings, which are well beyond the main discussions about the mechanisms of masking…It is a truly balanced and an exhaustive review. Great!" —Perception

"Unfortunately, the literature on masking is heavily distributed, with a low level of coherence. Clearly, a new book was needed and fortunately Talis Bachmann and Greg Francis have taken the challenge and filled the gap with a marvelous review book. The main bulk of the book is to review all current studies and theories on masking from 2006 onwards...the book has managed, in an elegant fashion, to present the current approaches to masking, together with their supporting and contradicting evidence. All experiments and theories are not only well presented but critically discussed...patterns within the ocean of unrelated topics become visible. Bachmann and Francis also cover applications, particularly, how masking is used in the clinic. Reading the book is not only instructuve but also fun. It is a truly balanced and an exhaustive review." —Reviewed by Michael Herzog, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, for Perception, 2015, 0(0) 1-2

From the Publisher