You’ve heard of optical illusions, right? Did you know that our ears can be fooled just as much as our eyes can? In this week’s chapters you learn about ways that our brain uses to make sense of the mind-boggling stream of noise that reaches our ears almost continuously. In the two activities I have chosen for you to do this week, you get a chance to see and actually experience the bizarre “McGurk Effect.” This is one that you have to actually do it yourself to believe! I also have posted for you Part I of a series of psychoacoustic illusions. You’ll need to have headphones to get the most out of it. But I think you’ll enjoy learning about strange things your brain does in the presence of certain types of sound waves.
This week’s discussion is just an opportunity for you to listen to these various demonstrations and then tell your breakout group which one(s) you enjoyed or were surprised by the most. Be sure to post your opinions and reply to at least two other people in your group.