Blend Modes in Photoshop Elements 11

Normal: The default mode displays each pixel, unadjusted. Note that you can’t see the underlying layer at all with the Normal blend mode.

Dissolve: You can see this mode only on a layer with an opacity setting of less than 100%. The lower the opacity, the more intense the effect. Dissolve allows some pixels from lower layers, which are randomized, to show through the target (selected) layer.