Definition of Auditory illusion
Auditory illusions are illusions of real sound or outside stimulus. These false perceptions are the equivalent of an optical illusion: the listener hears either sounds which are not present in the stimulus, or sounds that should not be possible given the circumstance on how they were created.
Humans are fairly susceptible to illusions, despite an innate ability to process complex stimuli. Confirmation bias is believed to be largely responsible for the inaccurate judgments that people make when evaluating information, given that humans typically interpret and recall information that appeals to their own biases. Amongst these misinterpretations, known as illusions, falls the category of auditory illusions. The brain uses multiple senses simultaneously to process information,
spatial information is processed with greater detail and accuracy in vision than in hearing. Auditory illusions highlight areas where the human ear and brain, as organic survival tools, differentiate from perfect audio receptors; this shows that it is possible for a human being to hear something that is not there and be able to react to the sound they supposedly heard. When someone is experiencing an auditory illusion, their brain is falsely interpreting its surroundings and distorting their perception of the world around them.
Related terms
Shepard tone
A Shepard tone, named after Roger Shepard, is a sound consisting of a superposition of…
Yanny or Laurel
Yanny or Laurel is an auditory illusion that became popular in May 2018, in which a…
Speech-to-song illusion
The speech-to-song illusion is an auditory illusion discovered by Diana Deutsch in 1995…
Octave illusion
The octave illusion is an auditory illusion discovered by Diana Deutsch in 1973. It is…
Illusory continuity of tones
The illusory continuity of tones is the auditory illusion caused when a tone is…
Tritone paradox
The tritone paradox is an auditory illusion in which a sequentially played pair of…
Tinnitus
Tinnitus is a condition when a person hears a ringing sound or a different variety of…
Deutsch's scale illusion
Deutsch's scale illusion is an auditory illusion in which two series of unconnected…
Loudness
In acoustics, loudness is the subjective perception of sound pressure. More formally, it…
Frequently asked questions
What is Auditory illusion?
Auditory illusions are illusions of real sound or outside stimulus. These false perceptions are the equivalent of an optical illusion: the listener hears either sounds which are not present in the stimulus, or sounds that should not be possible given the…