Pathways in Type-B (U-Shaped) Metacontrast

Abstract

Rod and cone targets were crossed, in every combination, with rod and cone masks in flanking-bars metacontrast. Strong type-B (U-shaped) metacontrast was obtained in each condition, contrary to the claim that rod and cone masking are independent. In each condition, visibility declined steadily with stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) in trials in which target and mask appeared to be simultaneous, and increased with SOA in trials in which they appeared to be successive. The ‘U’ results from collapsing across these different types of trials, which may reflect distinct monotonic processes in masking. Under the light adaptation conditions used the time, Tmax, at which metacontrast was at a maximum was delayed by about 25 ms if rods, rather than cones, detected the target. Whether rods or cones detected the mask hardly altered Tmax.