The present study measures the temporary threshold shift (TTS) following two conditions of high‐level noise exposure: (1) a control condition where the high‐level noise is preceded by a period of silence; (2) an experimental condition where the high‐level noise is preceded by noise levels which alone produce no apparent TTS. When the non‐TTS‐producing noise was coupled with the high‐level noise, a greater threshold shift resulted than when equivalent periods of silence preceded the same high‐level noise.