Masking (psychology)
Masking in learning psychology is a disruption of the processing of a material to be learned or perceived by means of a suitable disruptive stimulus. With its simultaneous or timely occurrence, the disruptive stimulus "masks" the percept / appercept in the form of an additional perception and actively extinguishes it. Masking therefore means the 'covering' (hence: mask) of a somewhat 'weaker' stimulus by a 'stronger' one (clearer, more intense, more adequate, etc.). The weaker stimulus is not experienced and therefore not learned, does not exist in memory.
Masking as a processing disorder is known in visual memory / iconic memory or acoustic memory / echo memory , which are associated with sensory memory . In order to hinder the learning / perception material, the disturbance stimulus can be introduced before, after or during the learning process.
Examples
Masking through the simultaneous presentation of two acoustic stimuli: A piece of music is accompanied by noise as a disturbance stimulus, it is masked by noise.
Subsequent presentation of two visual stimuli: an illustrated text is superimposed by another in rapid succession, the first text is masked by the next.
Localization of the iconic memory
Masking experiments were used, among other things, to find out where iconic memory is located.
- Brightness masking
Shortly after the stimulus, e.g. B. a letter matrix, a flash of light is applied. As a consequence, the reproductive performance decreases significantly; but only if the brightness mask is placed on the same eye as the stimulus. So stimulus and mask on the right eye: poor reproductive performance. Stimulus and mask on a different eye: unimpaired reproductive performance.
From this one could conclude that the iconic memory must lie in front of the optic nerve junction ; so be peripheral.
- Sample mask
Here a sample mask is applied after the stimulus. Again, the reproductive performance decreases; but this time regardless of whether the same or the other eye is masked.
That would mean the iconic memory is behind the junction of the optic nerve ; so be central.
Evidence for one or the other view has not yet been found, so that subsystems are assumed.
Experiment by Turvey
According to an experiment carried out by Michael Turvey in 1973 , masking through patterns (optical sensory impressions) can also impair learning if the masking pattern is presented to the other eye. Central processing in the brain must be involved. (Neath / Surprenant 2003)
Proactive interference instead of trace decay
The processing disorder occurs in short-term memory through a process called “ proactive interference ”. Both stimuli, the learning material and the masking disruptive stimulus, impair each other through mutual interference and cannot be easily absorbed into the short-term memory.
This more recent finding replaces earlier assumptions that forgetting in short-term memory is a matter of trace decay . It was assumed that optical or acoustic sensory perception left a form of memory trail that would disintegrate if forgotten .
literature
- Frederic Vester : Thinking, learning, forgetting: what goes on in our head, how does the brain learn and when does it let us down? 23rd edition. dtv, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-423-08565-7 (revised, expanded edition).
- Ian Neath, Aimée M. Surprenant: Human memory: an introduction to research, data, and theory . 2nd Edition. Wadsworth, Belmont, California 2003, ISBN 0-534-59562-6 , pp. 21-28 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ MT Turvey (1973) On peripheral and central processes in vision: Inferences from an information-processing analysis of masking with patterned stimuli. Psychological Review, 80, 1-52.
- ↑ Dirk Wentura: Memory, Thinking and Judging - Lecture WS 2005/06 (slide 47) ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 451 kB)
