In a nutshell
A voice can seem to continue through a brief interfering noise. This happens even when the masked section of speech is actually absent from the recording.
Why does it happen?
The auditory system uses the sound before and after an interruption as well as linguistic context. A suitable interfering noise makes it plausible that the voice was merely masked and promotes perceived continuity. Processing therefore reconstructs a continuous source without physically restoring the missing section.
Frequency
Under suitable acoustic conditions, the auditory continuity illusion is a normal perceptual effect. No fixed everyday prevalence can be inferred from it.
Frequency is a qualitative description, not your individual probability.
Is it normal?
An ordinary completion process of the auditory system.
Does this happen to you?
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Sources (1)
- Neural mechanisms for illusory filling-in of degraded speech (opens a new tab)
This source supports the description and physiological context of this entry.
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