The importance of data regarding the effect of short signal durations on detection for gated‐ versus continuous‐noise maskers and the theoretical implications of this data have been presented in recent papers by Jeffress, Tucker, and Williams. Masked thresholds for a 1000‐Hz signal of 40‐, 80, 160‐, and 400‐msec duration were determined in the presence of a narrow‐band masking noise that was either continuously on or gated only during the two possible signal intervals, with the masker presented over a 90‐dB range of levels. At the 400‐msec duration, the continuous masker led to thresholds that were about 2 dB lower than did the gated masker at all but the lowest masker levels. At shorter durations, consistent continuous‐gated differences in threshold were not found, indicating that, in addition to the experience of the listeners (as suggested by Tucker, Williams, and Jeffress), the level of the masker may also be a factor in the difference between continuous and gated masked thresholds or signal detectability.