Auditory Illusions

[Strange]

We have all seen optical illusions, but auditory illusions are a bit rarer. Here is an example I remember reading about years ago. Hearing a spoken phrase repeatedly can make it sound as if it is sung. And after that, you can't hear it as not being sung!

http://deutsch.ucsd.edu/psychology/pages.php?i=212

(This is also a good example of experimental method because of the various ways they demonstrate that the effect is real and the same for multiple listeners.)

[StringJunky]

38 minutes ago, Strange said:

We have all seen optical illusions, but auditory illusions are a bit rarer. Here is an example I remember reading about years ago. Hearing a spoken phrase repeatedly can make it sound as if it is sung. And after that, you can't hear it as not being sung!

http://deutsch.ucsd.edu/psychology/pages.php?i=212

(This is also a good example of experimental method because of the various ways they demonstrate that the effect is real and the same for multiple listeners.)

Bearing in mind I'm pretty deaf but can hear what's being said, only the 3rd demo is sing-songy for me.

[Strange]

4 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

Bearing in mind I'm pretty deaf but can hear what's being said, only the 3rd demo is sing-songy for me.

That's interesting, because that is the one where listeners are singing what they heard. So you can hear the change in pitch there.

Presumably, there must be some other information, in particular frequency ranges maybe, that is required for the illusion to work, that you don't pick up on.

[StringJunky]

6 minutes ago, Strange said:

That's interesting, because that is the one where listeners are singing what they heard. So you can hear the change in pitch there.

Presumably, there must be some other information, in particular frequency ranges maybe, that is required for the illusion to work, that you don't pick up on.

Yes, I'm pretty tone deaf, as expected. My experience as a deaf person would probably help isolate the effect; it won't turn into song, as hard as I try. Try blocking one ear off and see if you still get the effect. I'm only hearing in one ear... I only wear one aid. I'm speculating it might require two ears to work.

Edited February 20, 2019 by StringJunky

[Space Babe]

55 minutes ago, Strange said:

We have all seen optical illusions, but auditory illusions are a bit rarer. Here is an example I remember reading about years ago. Hearing a spoken phrase repeatedly can make it sound as if it is sung. And after that, you can't hear it as not being sung!

http://deutsch.ucsd.edu/psychology/pages.php?i=212

(This is also a good example of experimental method because of the various ways they demonstrate that the effect is real and the same for multiple listeners.)

I have listened to this auditory illusion before, I think from a documentary called Mind Works on Da Vinci Learning  

I listened to all seven sound demos and no matter if the sentence is sung or spoken, I always hear it as singing. This confirms what you said that you can't hear the sentence as not being sung!

In the first sound demo particularly, from the whole sentence, only the part saying "Sometimes behave so strangely" is heard as being sung. It's like when you suddenly start singing while talking, and when that particular part is pronounced, you continue to hear the sentence as speaking.

Edited February 20, 2019 by Space Babe

[Strange]

57 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

Yes, I'm pretty tone deaf, as expected. My experience as a deaf person would probably help isolate the effect; it won't turn into song, as hard as I try. Try blocking one ear off and see if you still get the effect. I'm only hearing in one ear... I only wear one aid. I'm speculating it might require two ears to work.

Interesting idea. They haven't (as far as I know) tested that for this illusion. Some of the others specifically depend on feeding different signs to each ear.

I'll try it in one ear later. But as I have already been "converted" that may not be a valid test. Unless I don't hear it with one ear...

55 minutes ago, Space Babe said:

I have listened to this auditory illusion before, I think from a documentary called Mind Works on Da Vinci Learning  

I listened to all seven sound demos and no matter if the sentence is sung or spoken, I always hear it as singing. This confirms what you said that you can't hear the sentence as not being sung!

In the first sound demo particularly, from the whole sentence, only the part saying "Sometimes behave so strangely" is heard as being sung. It's like when you suddenly start singing while talking, and when that particular part is pronounced, you continue to hear the sentence as speaking.

It is interesting the the effect "sticks" for so long. I thought it might wear off after a while.

[Space Babe]

28 minutes ago, Strange said:

It is interesting the the effect "sticks" for so long. I thought it might wear off after a while.

I know, right? Initially, I had the same thought but when I heard the sound demos again after a long period of time, I realized that the illusion still works.

I wonder why is that so? 

[StringJunky]

6 minutes ago, Space Babe said:

I know, right? Initially, I had the same thought but when I heard the sound demos again after a long period of time, I realized that the illusion still works.

I wonder why is that so? 

Probably pre-wired to respond that way... except when one is deaf.

[Space Babe]

12 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

Probably pre-wired to respond that way... except when one is deaf.

I guess your explanation makes sense.

Like in technology, pre-wiring represents the ability to add something is present in the basic design, but the option must still be added;

So, the basic design represented the listener's hearing (that is, the interaction between our brain and our ears) before the auditory illusion. However, after the auditory illusion is heard (for the first time), its effect is added in the way our brain, through our hearing ability, can easily be tricked  into hearing sounds differently, hearings sounds that are not part of the stimulus, or "impossible" sounds.

We can't experience auditory illusions if we have never heard them before, if we can only partially hear them (or if we cannot hear them at all due to being deaf).