The Interaction between Flanker Phase and Position in Lateral Masking

The visibility of a target pattern can be affected by the presence of an adjacent stimulus (flanker). Here, we showed that such lateral masking effect depends on both the phase and the position of the flanker. The task of the observers was to detect a 4 cy/deg vertical Gabor target with the presence...

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Main Author: Chien-Chung Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2011-05-01
Series:i-Perception
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1068/ic287
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author Chien-Chung Chen
author_facet Chien-Chung Chen
author_sort Chien-Chung Chen
collection DOAJ
description The visibility of a target pattern can be affected by the presence of an adjacent stimulus (flanker). Here, we showed that such lateral masking effect depends on both the phase and the position of the flanker. The task of the observers was to detect a 4 cy/deg vertical Gabor target with the presence of vertical flankers. The target was in sine phase related to the fixation. The flankers had either the same or the opposite phase as the target and located at either the collinear or the side position from the target. The distance between the target and the flanker varied from 2 to 7.5 wavelengths. We measured the target threshold at 75% correct level. Compared with the no-flanker condition, the same-phase collinear flankers and the opposite-phase side flankers significantly decreased target threshold while the other flankers had little effects. Hence the side flanker has an effect only if the bright region of the target is adjacent to the bight regions of the flanker, and the dark region of the target to the dark region of the flanker. This result is consistent with the notion of border ownership in which facilitation occurs when the target and the flankers signal the same border.
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spelling doaj.art-5092cb8929064248a96a3f97e596b0e92022-12-22T00:16:16ZengSAGE Publishingi-Perception2041-66952011-05-01210.1068/ic28710.1068_ic287The Interaction between Flanker Phase and Position in Lateral MaskingChien-Chung Chen0Department of Psychology, National Taiwan UniversityThe visibility of a target pattern can be affected by the presence of an adjacent stimulus (flanker). Here, we showed that such lateral masking effect depends on both the phase and the position of the flanker. The task of the observers was to detect a 4 cy/deg vertical Gabor target with the presence of vertical flankers. The target was in sine phase related to the fixation. The flankers had either the same or the opposite phase as the target and located at either the collinear or the side position from the target. The distance between the target and the flanker varied from 2 to 7.5 wavelengths. We measured the target threshold at 75% correct level. Compared with the no-flanker condition, the same-phase collinear flankers and the opposite-phase side flankers significantly decreased target threshold while the other flankers had little effects. Hence the side flanker has an effect only if the bright region of the target is adjacent to the bight regions of the flanker, and the dark region of the target to the dark region of the flanker. This result is consistent with the notion of border ownership in which facilitation occurs when the target and the flankers signal the same border.https://doi.org/10.1068/ic287
spellingShingle Chien-Chung Chen
The Interaction between Flanker Phase and Position in Lateral Masking
i-Perception
title The Interaction between Flanker Phase and Position in Lateral Masking
title_full The Interaction between Flanker Phase and Position in Lateral Masking
title_fullStr The Interaction between Flanker Phase and Position in Lateral Masking
title_full_unstemmed The Interaction between Flanker Phase and Position in Lateral Masking
title_short The Interaction between Flanker Phase and Position in Lateral Masking
title_sort interaction between flanker phase and position in lateral masking
url https://doi.org/10.1068/ic287
work_keys_str_mv AT chienchungchen theinteractionbetweenflankerphaseandpositioninlateralmasking
AT chienchungchen interactionbetweenflankerphaseandpositioninlateralmasking