Optimal Metacontrast Masking of Chromatic Stimuli With and Without Luminance Cues

Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Bauer, Gordon

Keywords

Visual Perception, Visual Masking, Metacontrast, Masking, Biopsychology, Psychophysics

Area of Concentration

Biopsychology

Abstract

I used metacontrast masking to investigate the spatiotemporal processing of visual information along the magnocellular, parvocellular and koniocellular visual channels. Participants completed a contour discrimination masking task in a hue substitution (HS) condition (which utilized no luminance cues) and a luminance decrement (LD) condition (in which the mask was less luminant than the target or background). The HS condition was supposed to utilize the parvocellular and koniocellular systems, and the LD condition was supposed to utilize the magnocellular, parvocellular and koniocellular systems. I hypothesized that if the RECOD model (Ogmen, 1993) were correct, then the LD condition should elicit optimal masking before the HS condition. If the perceptual retouch theory (Bachmann, 2005) were correct, I suggested that there should be no difference in optimal masking points. The data seem to support the RECOD model, but these data may be misleading because the platform used to conduct these tests was not sophisticated enough to present the stimuli at precise temporal intervals.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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