Object trimming: When masking dots alter rather than replace target representations.

Kahan, Todd A.; Enns, James T.

doi:10.1037/a0016466

Cited by 20 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Our results are consistent with previous results that showed an offset mask can cut off or Btrim^a target without it being eliminated entirely from conscious (Kahan & Enns, 2010). Our results extend this partial alteration of a conscious object by showing that object updating can also occur via a process of degradation.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Object-substitution masking degrades the quality of conscious object representations

2015

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Object-substitution masking (OSM) is a unique paradigm for the examination of object updating processes. However, existing models of OSM are underspecified with respect to the impact of object updating on the quality of target representations. Using two paradigms of OSM combined with a mixture model analysis we examine the impact of postperceptual processes on a target's representational quality within conscious awareness. We conclude that object updating processes responsible for OSM cause degradation in the precision of object representations. These findings contribute to a growing body of research advocating for the application of mixture model analysis to the study of how cognitive processes impact the quality (i.e., precision) of object representations.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Object-substitution masking degrades the quality of conscious object representations

2015

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“…Support for the notion that the notional surface of a 4DM is a relevant factor in OSM is found in the phenomenon of object trimming (Kahan & Enns, 2010;Kahan & Mathis, 2002). This is a phenomenon produced in OSM in which two dots arranged vertically and appearing at the side of a stimulus alter the percept resulting from that stimulus when these dots linger after the stimulus' offset.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 69%

“…In object trimming, a two-dot mask presented adjacent to a target interferes with the perception of target features that are close to it, essentially eradicating them from perception (Kahan & Enns, 2010). If such disruption of feature processing occurred here when the mask bisected a target feature, then when the mask trailed the target, the resultant impression in the critical feature condition would be of a target with a gap in two of its sides, whereas the resultant impression when the mask did not bisect the critical feature would have been of a target with a gap in three of its sides.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, when the dots of a two-dot trailing mask are presented above and below and to the left of a black diamond, the result is a percept in which the black diamond appears to have its left corner missing (Kahan & Mathis, 2002). The illusory surface, or contour, connecting the two dots, seems selectively to interfere with the processing of the portion of the stimulus that it flanks, resulting in an altered percept (Kahan & Enns, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effect of spatial competition between object-level representations of target and mask on object substitution masking

Guest

Gellatly

Pilling

2011

Atten Percept Psychophys

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One of the processes determining object substitution masking (OSM) is thought to be the spatial competition between independent object file representations of the target and mask (e.g., Kahan & Lichtman, 2006). In a series of experiments, we further examined how OSM is influenced by this spatial competition by manipulating the overlap between the surfaces created by the modal completion of the target (an outline square with a gap in one of its sides) and the mask (a four-dot mask). The results of these experiments demonstrate that increasing the spatial overlap between the surfaces of the target and mask increases OSM. Importantly, this effect is not caused by the mask interfering with the processing of the target features it overlaps. Overall, the data indicate, consistent with Kahan and Lichtman, that OSM can arise through competition between independent target and mask representations.

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“…A common alignment of the target and mask stimuli (as in the standard OSM condition) would be especially conducive to their being confused as belonging to a single object identity, as opposed to when they were spatially offset. Thus, the results of Guest et al (2011) can be taken as evidence against the notion that the target and mask representations interact at an isolated featural level (e.g., Kahan & Enns, 2010), but they are entirely consistent with the existing evidence for the object-updating account. It remains to be seen, therefore, whether there are findings in OSM that can be explained only by object substitution, and not object updating.…”

Section: Object Updating and Object Substitutionmentioning

confidence: 47%

Substituting objects from consciousness: A review of object substitution masking

et al. 2013

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Object substitution masking (OSM) occurs when a sparse (e.g., four-dot), temporally trailing mask obscures the visibility of a briefly presented target. Here, we review theories of OSM: those that propose that OSM reflects the interplay between feedforward and feedback/reentrant neural processes, those that predict that feedforward processing alone gives rise to the phenomenon, and theories that focus on cognitive explanations, such as object updating. We discuss how each of these theories accommodates key findings from the OSM literature. In addition, we examine the relationship between OSM and other visual-cognitive phenomena, including object correspondence through occlusion, change blindness, metacontrast masking, backward masking, and visual short-term memory. Finally, we examine the level of processing at which OSM impairs target perception. Collectively, OSM appears to reflect the conditions under which the brain confuses two visual events for one when they are encoded with low spatiotemporal resolution, due to processing resources being otherwise occupied.Keywords Object substitution masking . Attention . Reentrant processing . Consciousness When observing a visual scene, at any point in time, we are conscious of only a small fraction of the available information. Given this limitation, it is important to understand the mechanisms that determine what stimuli we become conscious of, when we become conscious of them, and the nature of processing that occurs in the absence of explicit awareness. There exists a long and rich history in experimental psychology of using visual masking to explore such issues. Visual masking refers to conditions where the visibility of one to-be-reported visual stimulus (the target) is obscured by the presentation of another stimulus (the mask) that appears in close spatiotemporal proximity and does not require report. Object substitution masking (OSM) is a recent discovery in the field of visual masking and is an ideal tool for exploring questions about visual awareness because it selectively impairs the extent to which an individual becomes conscious of a visual stimulus without the extent of image-level degradation that other forms of visual masking induce. This review, therefore, focuses on the determinants and consequences of visual awareness in OSM.Here, we integrate a diverse range of literature to discern what OSM can tell us about perceptual consciousness and visual cognition in general. Specifically, we discuss the role of feedforward versus feedback processing in giving rise to OSM, whether the phenomenon is better characterized as reflecting object updating or object substitution, the similarities and differences between OSM and other forms of masking, and OSM's relationship to other visual-cognitive phenomena. In addition, we review evidence regarding the role of attention in masking. Our aim is to address controversies in the OSM literature in depth and offer insights into how some of them may already be resolved and how the field might go about resolving ...

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Object trimming: When masking dots alter rather than replace target representations.

Cited by 20 publications

References 34 publications

Object-substitution masking degrades the quality of conscious object representations

Object-substitution masking degrades the quality of conscious object representations

The effect of spatial competition between object-level representations of target and mask on object substitution masking

Substituting objects from consciousness: A review of object substitution masking

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