ABSTRACT
Let us see what happens with masking. If pro & retroactive masking (Zwicker, 1982) were at work, sounds beginning short intervals would in fact be perceived softer because they receive both masking from those preceding and following them, compared with sounds preceded or followed by longer intervals. If this was the case, the constancy of the adjustments in the control sequences cannot be explained, neither can the absence of the role of the tempo (since the degree of masking is usually closely related to the time between two sounds), neither can the direction of the distortion we have observed: sounds in the vicinity of long intervals would have been adjusted softer and not louder if they received less masking. For these reasons, and also considering our rather slow tempi and short durations of sounds, this hypothesis can be rejected.
