Abstract

Schluch, Ries and DiGiovanni (2001) demonstrated that the subjective duration of ramped sounds (slow attack and fast decay) is longer than the subjective duration of the same sounds reversed in time (damped sounds). This difference can be explained in two ways. It might be the result of a perceptual enlargement of the duration of ramped sounds due to their abrupt offsets, which may result in a persistence of perception. Alternatively, listeners may ignore the offset of damped sounds because they consider it as an echo. Results of the current research support the second of the two hypotheses.