Simultaneous masking between two sinusoidal gratings measured in terms of temporal sensitivity.

Effects of high-contrast simultaneous masking gratings on the temporal sensitivity of signal gratings were measured as a function of masking spatial frequency, where temporal sensitivity was defined as the reciprocal of the minimum exposure duration required for a signal to be detected. The sensitivity of signal gratings was shown to be facilitated when signal frequencies and masking frequencies were separated by more than about 2 octaves but inhibited when the two frequencies were not separated this much. The results were quantitatively different from the results obtained in terms of contrast sensitivity. Psychometric functions on grating detection were shown to become steeper when the temporal sensitivity was enhanced and less steep when it was decreased.