Abstract
The effects of structural relationships between targets and masks were investigated using a backward-masking paradigm. Specifically, the masking of single letters, common fiveletter words, and five-letter pseudowords masked by a blank flash, strings of overlapped letters, pseudowords, and words was investigated. Target duration was varied from 2 to 32 msec, with mask duration held constant at 25 msec. The dependent measure was the critical interstimulus interval for correct target identification. Letters were more effectively masked than words and pseudowords. A blank mask caused the least amount of masking, followed by the overlapped letter strings, and then the word and pseudoword masks. In addition to the overall greater masking effectiveness for the three patterned masks, overlapped letter strings masked letters more effectively than they did words. The implications of current theories of masking for these results and the implications of these results for theories of word recognition were discussed.
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Michaels, C. F., & Turvey, M. T.Central sources of visual masking: Indexing structures supporting seeing at a single briefglance. Manuscript submitted for publication, 1978.
Massaro, D. W., & Klitzke, D.The role of lateral masking and orthographic regularity in letter and word recognition. Manuscript submitted for publication, 1978.
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Taylor, G.A., Chabot, R.J. Differential backward masking of words and letters by masks of varying orthographic structure. Memory & Cognition 6, 629–635 (1978). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198253
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198253