Psych Chapter 5 Part 3: Auditory system

Question 1

what is sound?

Answer 1

mechanical energy travelling through air, we sense the vibrations

Question 2

what does pitch correspond to?

Answer 2

frequency (Hz) of sound wave

• higher frequency, the higher the pitch
• human ear ranges from 20 - 20,000 Hz

Question 3

Loudness

Answer 3

determined by amplitude of sound wave

the louder the noise, the more mechanical disturbance

Question 4

what is loudness measured in?

Answer 4

dB (decibels)

Question 5

at what decibal range does loudness start hurting you?

Answer 5

150dB

Question 6

what parts does the outer ear contain?

what do these parts do?

Answer 6

pinna and ear canal//

they funnel sound

Question 7

what parts does the middle ear contain?

what does the middle ear do?

Answer 7

ossicles: malleus, incus and staples

- conduct sound to inner ear

Question 8

what parts does the inner ear contain?

Answer 8

cochlea (which transduces sound)

Question 9

choclea physical description

Answer 9

outer part is bony, but inside is fluid

Question 10

organ of _____ and ______ membrane inside the choclea

Answer 10

organ of corti and basilar membrane.

Question 11

Physical description of organ of corti and basilar membrane

Answer 11

has embedded hair cells

protude into fluid which feeds into the auditory nerve

Question 12

what causes the firing of action potential in the cochlea?

Answer 12

the distortion of hair cells to inside the fluid.

Question 13

pitch perception, 3 theories

Answer 13

place theory
frequency theory
volley theory

Question 14

place theory

Answer 14

a specific place along basilar membrane and A1, match tone with specific pitch
- supports high pitches

Question 15

frequency theory

Answer 15

neurons fire at the frequency of the pitch

- best for low pitches

Question 16

volley theory

Answer 16

neurons fire at 1000Hz out of sync with other to achieve up to 5000 hz

Question 17

localization of sound refers to what?

Answer 17

the location of sound with respect to the body

Question 18

what’s happening in the brain stem when we’re trying to localize sound?

Answer 18

auditory nerve takes info from both ears

• sound arrives out of sync
• binaural cues and monoaural cues

Question 19

Binaural Cues involved with what part of sound and what are they?

Answer 19

difference between ears and the localization of sound

Question 20

Monaural cues involved with part of sound and what are they?

Answer 20

localization of sound and distinguishing between clarity of sounds (determining if the sound is muffled or not)

Question 21

deafness

Answer 21

4 types
conductive (malfunctioning of ossicles in inner ear)
nerve deafness (damage to auditory nerve)
noise induced hearing loss (often with tinnitus)
aging (loss of high frequency, less hair cells of degeneration of auditory nerve)