masking

n. Masking is an impairment of a person's awareness of a target (e.g., a letter or word) caused by the presentation of a mask (e.g., &&&&) close in time and near in location to the target. Theoretically, masking can occur in any sensory modality; but it is most frequently studied in vision and audition. In visual masking, there are several known forms, including energy masking, integration masking, interruption masking, metacontrast masking, and common-onset masking (or object-substitution masking). In auditory masking, there are also several forms of masking by noise, including simultaneous, forward, backward, and central masking.

- DGr

▶ See also BACKWARD MASKING and FORWARD MASKING