Believing Your Ears: Examining Auditory Illusions

Book excerpt: This book is based on an extensive filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Diana Deutsch, Professor of Psychology at UC San Diego and one of the world’s leading experts on the psychology of music. This conversation provides behind the scenes insights into her discovery of a large number of auditory illusions, including the so-called Octave Illusion, which concretely illustrate how what we think we’re hearing is often quite different from the actual sounds that are hitting our eardrums. This carefully-edited book includes an introduction, Revealing Mistakes, and questions for discussion at the end of each chapter: I. Eclectic Beginnings - Music, art, philosophy, and philosophical psychology II. Tones, Pitches and Critical Values - Intriguing results in music and memory III. The Octave Illusion - How to confuse the brain with tones IV. Medical Applications - A highly suggestive result for epilepsy patients V. Eyes vs. Ears - The neurophysiological differences between vision and hearing VI. Gut Issues - The impact of discomfort VII. The Scale Illusion - Auditory scene analysis and evolutionary factors VIII. Surrounded by Illusions - From the Glissando Illusion to Tchaikovsky’s 6th IX. Perfect Pitch & Tone Languages - Why Mandarin might help your musicianship X. Towards Monotony? - The tonal implications of globalization XI. Embracing Discomfort - The benefits of being confused About Ideas Roadshow Conversations Series This book is part of an expanding series of 100+ Ideas Roadshow conversations, each one presenting a wealth of candid insights from a leading expert in a relaxed and informal setting to give non-specialists a uniquely accessible window into frontline research and scholarship that wouldn't otherwise be encountered through standard lectures and textbooks. For other books in this series visit our website (https://ideas-on-film.com/ideasroadshow/).