Android get view of Preference in PreferenceActivity

I would like to get View instance that is used to display specific Preference in my PreferenceActivity, so i can modify its properties, for example:

public class SettingsActivity extends PreferenceActivity {

    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

        addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.preference);
        Preference pref = findPreference("key");
        pref.getView().setVisibility(View.GONE);
            //not necessarily setVisibility, i hope you get my point
    }
}

I only found this method: getView (View convertView, ViewGroup parent). But it seems confusing to me, that if i want to get View of my preference, i need to provide view and viewGroup as parameters??

Could someone explain how to use this method, or point me to another method to get View from my Preference instance.

PS: if possible, i would rather NOT extend Preference class, but i dont mind it if necessary