← all facts
perception
Your brain hallucinates words you did not hear.
In the phonemic restoration effect, listeners report hearing a missing phoneme in a word if the gap is replaced by a non-speech sound.
If you hear the word 'legislature' with the 's' replaced by a cough, your brain automatically reconstructs the sound based on context. This occurs in milliseconds without your awareness.
You hear what the context demands, not what is spoken.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Richard M. Warren, 'Perceptual restoration of missing speech sounds', 1970
- What the check found
- The claim accurately describes the landmark 1970 findings by Richard M. Warren regarding phonemic restoration, supported by the provided reference text.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.