Forward and backward masking in motor systems

Masking in motor systems was defined as the omission of one act in a sequence due to an earlier or later act in the sequence. A study of phoneme omission in natural speech showed that:

1. 1.

   Masked phonemes were usually preceded or followed by an identical phoneme (referred to as the masking phoneme).

2. 2.

   Backward masking, where the masked phoneme preceded the masking phoneme was as frequent as forward masking.

3. 3.

   The phonemes immediately adjacent to the masked and masking phonemes were usually similar in distinctive features, but rarely identical.

4. 4.

   The masking phoneme usually occurred in a stressed syllable and the masked phoneme in an unstressed one, suggesting that motor intensity may be a factor in masking.

5. 5.

   The components for an adequate model of motor masking were shown to be similar to those in models of other types of errors in speech.