Auditory Induction: Perceptual Synthesis of Absent Sounds

Abstract

Within certain auditory patterns, fainter sounds may be "heard" clearly when replaced by louder sounds having appropriate spectral compositions. This auditory induction of fainter by louder sounds can cancel the perceptual effects of masking. Phonemic restorations, which have been reported previously, appear to be a specialized application to speech of the much broader phenomenon of auditory induction. The rules governing auditory induction indicate that it helps maintain stable auditory perception in our frequently noisy environment.