Psychometric functions were obatained for the interaural conditions NoSo and NoSπ in both forward and backward masking using masks of different durations. In addition, data were collected for the Sm, Sπ and So conditions without an external mask. The slope parameterkand the signal level required for 76% correct detection were computed with a least‐squares technique. The results were that both temporal masking and temporal masking‐level differences (MLDs) increased monotonically with longer mask durations. This mask‐duration effect was more pronounced for forward masking than for backward masking. Without an external mask, the signal was about 3 dB more detectable in the So configuration than in the Sπ configuration, and it was about 4 dB more detectabe in the Sπ configuration than in the Sm configuration. The psychometric functions were generally steeper for the NoSπ condition than for the NoSo condition in forward masking, but not in backward masking. They were also steeper for the Sπ condition than for either the Sm or So conditions without an external mask. The temporal properties of a typical detection model consisting of a filter centered at the stimulus frequency followed by a rectifier and a final ’’leaky’’ integrator were found to explain much of existent temporal masking data. Signal:500Hz, 8 msec; interstimulus interval: 5–10 msec; mask: wide‐band noise; method: two‐interval forced choice.Subject Classification: [43]65.62, [43]65.58, [43]65.68.