Can you trust your ears? Take these tests

There are a few reasons why some of us mishear things

See if you can get your head around some of these audio illusions (Getty Images)

We all have moments where we think we’re hearing things. Perhaps you think you heard someone calling your name, or phantom footsteps upstairs when you're at home on your own.

However, there may actually be a few reasons why some of us mishear strange noises.

The McGurk effect is an occurrence that links the interaction between vision and hearing when it comes to recognising speech.

In a sort of audible illusion, the effect takes place when one sound bite is paired with a video showing a different sound, which then creates the effect of something different.

With this effect, depending on what visual stimuli you’re given, what you hear can change.

In the video below, made by Mark Mitton and Josh Aviner, you can see the McGurk effect in action.

There’s also the tritone paradox – a small clip of notes which is separated by half an octave - or an interval of tritone, which gives the effect of either an ascending tone or descending tone.

The paradox is that the effect can differ between people: some hear the tone as ascending, while others hear it as descending.

Diana Deustch, a music psychologist, first discovered the paradox in 1986 and published it in her book Music Perception.

The Franssen effect is slightly reminiscent of the increase in surround sound.

This effect is an illusion which affects the perception of where music or sound is coming from.

In a test, sound will be played from speakers behind the subject on the left and then on the right; changing sound or pitch along the way. This may make it difficult to tell which speaker the sound is coming from.