4 female and 2 male undergraduates in 4 experiments identified the pitch of a 20-msec test tone which was followed by a masking tone after a variable silent intertone interval. The masking tone interfered with the perceptual processing of the test tone such that pitch identification performance improved with increases in the silent intertone interval. Results also indicate that: (a) the amount of interference produced by the masking tone was relatively independent of the similarity of the test and masking tones, (b) dichotic (contralateral) masking was as effective as the binaural case, and (c) presenting the masking tone before the test tone did not disrupt pitch-identification performance. It is concluded that the experiments demonstrate the existence of a central auditory image that remains after a short tone burst is terminated. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)