Comparison of near-threshold characteristics of flash suppression and forward masking

Abstract

A normally visible stimulus can be rendered invisible by some psychophysical techniques. Flash suppression and forward masking are two such techniques. In this study, we investigated the selectivity of suppression in flash suppression and forward masking. Observers were asked to discriminate the orientation or color of the test grating that was at the orientation- discrimination threshold. We found that during flash suppression color sensitivity was more suppressed than orientation sensitivity. Forward masking produced a pattern of results similar to flash suppression. These results suggest that the flash suppression and forward masking share partly a common mechanism. © 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.