Module #20 Vocab

Question 1

Audition

Answer 1

the sense or act of hearing

Question 2

Frequency

Answer 2

the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time

Question 3

Pitch

Answer 3

a tone’s experienced highness or lowness

Question 4

Middle Ear

Answer 4

the chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones—hammer (malleus), anvil (incus), and stirrup (stapes)—that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window

Question 5

Cochlea

Answer 5

a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses

Question 6

Inner Ear

Answer 6

the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs

Question 7

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Answer 7

the most common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerve; also called nerve deafness

Question 8

Conduction Hearing Loss

Answer 8

a less common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea

Question 9

Cochlear Implant

Answer 9

a device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea

Question 10

Place Theory

Answer 10

in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated

Question 11

Frequency Theory

Answer 11

in hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch

Question 12

Gate-Control Theory

Answer 12

the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain

Question 13

Hypnosis

Answer 13

a social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur

Question 14

Dissociation

Answer 14

a split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others

Question 15

Posthypnotic Suggestion

Answer 15

a suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by some clinicians to help control undesired symptoms and behaviors

Question 16

Gustation

Answer 16

our sense of taste

Question 17

Olfaction

Answer 17

our sense of smell

Question 18

Kinesthesia

Answer 18

our movement sense—our system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

Question 19

Vestibular Sense

Answer 19

our balance sense—our sense of body movement and position that enables our sense of balance

Question 20

Sensory Interaction

Answer 20

the principle that one sense can influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste

Question 21

Embodied Cognition

Answer 21

the influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgments

Question 22

Extrasensory Perception (ESP)

Answer 22

the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input; includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition

Question 23

Parapsychology

Answer 23

the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis