Audition

Question 1

Sound wave

Answer 1

changes in air pressure (compression) over time

Question 2

A sound wave’s amplitude determines

Answer 2

loudness

Question 3

A sound wave’s frequency determines

Answer 3

pitch

Question 4

Humans can detect sound waves with frequencies from
about

Answer 4

20 Hz to about 20,000 Hz.

Question 5

Spectrograms

Answer 5

show how loud (intense) sounds are at different sound frequencies over time

Question 6

Reverberation

Answer 6

sound ”rebounds” off
surfaces, creating reverberation that distorts the acoustic signal

Question 7

Outer ear

Answer 7

from the
auditory canal to the
eardrum

Question 8

Middle ear

Answer 8

from the
eardrum through the
ossicles and to the oval
window

Question 9

Inner ear

Answer 9

from the oval
window to the cochlea

Question 10

What is the pathway through which sound goes?

Answer 10

auditory canal –> tympanic membrane –> transferred to middle ear cavity via ossicles –> ossicles convert low pressure to high pressure via oval window –> inner air (contains liquid not air) –> cochlea –> hair cells

Question 11

Place coding

Answer 11

Different
frequencies cause vibrations at
different locations along the
basilar membrane:
– Highest frequencies at the base
(= closest to oval window)
– Lowest frequencies at the apex (=tip)

Question 12

Temporal coding

Answer 12

Firing rates of
hair cells match the frequency of
low-frequency sounds
– Up to about 4,000 Hz

Question 13

auditory pathway

Answer 13

auditory nerve, cochlear nuclei, superior olivary nucleus, inferior colliculus, medial geniculate nucleus of the thalamus –> primary auditory cortex

Question 14

Primary auditory cortex is ____ organized

Answer 14

tonotopically

Question 15

Vowel sounds

Answer 15

have pitch (sustained formant and harmonics, red bands on the image)