The New York Times reports on "audio illusion, phantom phone rings or, more whimsically, ringxiety or fauxcellarm. which has become a new reason for people to either bemoan the techno-saturation of modern life or question their sanity.
"And how some advertising agencies are using high-pitched, electronic tones very much by design, mimicking a ringtone. ... A sound trick that sends confused listeners hunting for their cellphones might be especially effective for ads ending with a call to action. (An example is a directive to "Call this toll-free number now!")
Some sound experts believe that because cellphones have become a fifth limb for many, people now live in a constant state of phone vigilance, and hearing sounds that seem like a telephone's ring can send an expectant brain into action.
...More mysterious are phantom phone vibrations, a cellphone side effect that many people said they also have experienced. It seems that having a phone set to vibrate can cause a particularly physical kind of false alarm.
Phantom rings are a "psycho-acoustic phenomenon" related to the way the human brain interprets sound, said Rob Nokes, president of Sound Dogs, a sound effects company in California. "
This happens to me all the freaking time. --GH