U-shaped masking functions in visual backward masking: Effects of target configuration and retinal position

Printed letters were found to become increasingly susceptible to visual backward masking when presented to one side of the point of fixation: All masking was found to be a u-shaped function of the time interval separating the offset of the target from the onset of the masking figure. The interval at which maximum masking was observed, as well as the amount of masking observed, varied with the target-mask configuration studied. More masking was found when the ISI field was lighted than when it was not.