Dependence of post-masking on masker duration and its relation to temporal effects in loudness.

Temporal masking of tones by noise was investigated using a post-(forward-) masking paradigm. The masker level and duration were varied. For every masker level employed, the rate of decay of masking was found to depend on the duration of the masker. Specific loudness values were computed from the forward masking functions and an electronic device which simulates these loudness functions is presented. In the simulation, a series of integrators or a single integration with one long time constant was utilized. The effect of the proposed integrators on loudness meters is discussed.