Visual masking : studying perception, attention, and consciousness / Talis Bachmann, University of Tartu, Estonia, Gregory Francis, Purdue University, USA

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 methodsComments 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