Visual Masking

Visual masking is a technique used in cognitive research to understand pre-conscious processes (priming, for example), consciousness, visual limits, and perception issues associated with psychopathology. This book is a short format review of research using visual masking: how it has been used, and what these experiments have discovered.Topics covered include concepts, varieties, and theories of masking; masking and microgenetic mechanisms and stagesof visual processing; psychopharmacological and genetic factors in masking, and more. - Provides succinct information about the widely dispersed masking studies and points out some new trends in masking research - Reviews transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as an alternative to the traditional psychophysical masking methods - Comments on the methodological pitfalls hidden in the practice of masking, helping to improve the quality of future research where masking is used as a tool - Informs readers about recent developments in theoretical attempts to understand masking

Talis Bachmann is a professor in the departments of law and psychology at the University of Tartu in Estonia, specializing in Cognitive and Forensic Psychology. He is also head of the Perception and Consciousness group in the Estonian Center of Behavioral and Health Sciences. He is on the Executive Board of the Union of Estonian Psychologists, and is a member of the Association for Scientific Studies of Consciousness, and Association for Psychological Science. He currently serves on the board of Consciousness and Cognition, was the former co-editor of Acta Universitatis Scientiarum Socialium et Artis Educandi Tallinnensis, and was a former board member on The European Journal of Cognitive Psychology. He is an author of 190 academic publications.Talis is regarded as one of the leading experts in masking, microgenesis, and perception of pixelated visual images.