Sounds change four-dot masking.

The temporal occurrence of a flash can be shifted towards a slightly offset sound (temporal ventriloquism). Here we examined whether four-dot masking is affected by this phenomenon. In Experiment 1, we demonstrate that there is release from four-dot masking if two sounds--one before the target and one after the mask--are presented at approximately 100 ms intervals rather than at approximately 0 ms intervals or a silent condition. In Experiment 2, we show that the release from masking originates from an alerting effect of the first sound, and a temporal ventriloquist effect from the first and second sounds that lengthened the perceived interval between target and mask, thereby leaving more time for the target to consolidate. Results thus show that sounds penetrate the visual system at more than one level.