A slight irregularity in a siren’s hole spacing drops perceived pitch an octave

Evidence

Even though 300 holes are still passing by the air source per second, the perceived pitch drops an octave, to a strong 150 Hz with a 5-degree offset. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2103

Categorization

• SHARE: Send to anyone fascinated by auditory illusions or the history of the siren as an instrument for studying hearing.
• QUESTION: Why does the perceptual system latch onto the 150 Hz periodicity when 300 pulses still occur per second? What neural circuit makes this decision?