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Naïve Theories of Physics Despite instruction to the contrary,
students in introductory physics courses often mistakenly assert that
a sound source approaching an observer will rise in frequency. It
is true that the frequency ahead of the moving source is higher than the
frequency actually emitted. However, when a source approaching an
observer first becomes audible, the source is heard at the higher than
emitted frequency. As the source draws closer the frequency begins
to fall. Nevertheless, the belief that one experiences rising pitch as
a source approaches is so widespread that many textbooks mistakenly indicate
that the Doppler frequency shift specifies a "rise in pitch"
as a sound source approaches. The pervasiveness of this belief led
me to examine the phenomenon from a perceptual perspective. The
"Doppler illusion" illustrates how the pitch and loudness interact
to create and reinforce a naïve mental model of Doppler physics.
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