Decrease in metacontrast masking following adaptation to flicker.
Selective adaptation was used to explore the characterisitcs of a metacontrast masking stimulus which contribute to its effectiveness in masking the test stimulus. Subjects adapted for 10 s to a configuration like the masking stimulus that was either continuously on or flickering. Following this they viewed a metacontrast presentation and estimated the brightness of the test stimulus. Prior adaptation to a continuously present stimulus did not appreciably affect metacontrast masking; however, masking was greatly reduced following adaptation to flickering stimuli. These results are consistent with recent models of metacontrast masking based on transient and sustained visual channels.
D000221:Adaptation, Ocular; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D005425:Flicker Fusion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D014796:Visual Perception