Auditory closure is the cognitive process of perceiving a sound as complete despite only hearing a portion of it. It is a phenomenon that has been studied and explored in the fields of psychology, psychoacoustics, and auditory science. Auditory closure has been found to have a significant effect on how humans perceive and interpret sound.
The concept of auditory closure was first studied by the German psychologist Hermann von Helmholtz in the late 19th century. Helmholtz hypothesized that humans are able to perceptually ‘fill in’ missing information of a sound, based on the context and environment of the sound. This concept of auditory closure has been further developed and tested in many subsequent studies.
One of the most important aspects of auditory closure is the Gestalt principle of ‘good continuation’. This principle suggests that humans tend to perceive sounds as continuous, even when only part of the sound is heard. This phenomenon has been found to be particularly relevant in the perception of speech, where humans are able to infer the missing information of a sound based on their experience and expectation of what they are likely to hear.
Auditory closure has also been found to be an important factor in the perception of music. Many studies have found that humans are able to perceptually complete a musical phrase, even if only part of the phrase is heard. This phenomenon is partly attributed to the familiarity of musical structures, as well as the ability to draw on prior musical experience to fill in the missing information.
Overall, auditory closure is a cognitive process by which humans are able to perceive a sound as complete, despite only hearing a portion of it. It is a phenomenon that has been studied extensively in the fields of psychology, psychoacoustics, and auditory science. As a result, auditory closure has been found to be an important factor in the perception of speech and music.
References
Dowling, W. J. (2000). Music cognition. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Helmholtz, H. von. (1954). On the sensations of tone as a physiological basis for the theory of music (A. J. Ellis, Trans.). London: Longman, Green & Co. (Original work published 1863)
Kassies, M. (2013). Auditory closure: Effects of missing information on the perception of tonal material. Music Perception, 30(3), 257-273.
Krumhansl, C. L. (1990). Cognitive foundations of musical pitch. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Meyer, L. B. (1956). Emotion and meaning in music. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.