Believing Your Ears: Examining Auditory Illusions

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:


Eclectic Beginnings - Music, art, philosophy, and philosophical psychology

Tones, Pitches and Critical Values - Intriguing results in music and memory

The Octave Illusion - How to confuse the brain with tones

Medical Applications - A highly suggestive result for epilepsy patients

Eyes vs. Ears - The neurophysiological differences between vision and hearing

Gut Issues - The impact of discomfort

The Scale Illusion - Auditory scene analysis and evolutionary factors

Surrounded by Illusions - From the Glissando Illusion to Tchaikovsky’s 6th

Perfect Pitch & Tone Languages - Why Mandarin might help your musicianship

Towards Monotony? - The tonal implications of globalization

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 focused yet 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/.