Sensation & Perception: Auditory System

Question 1

Frequency

Answer 1

The number of cycles per second and is measured in Hertz (Hz). The shorter the wavelength, the higher the frequency

Question 2

Intensity

Answer 2

The amplitude or height of the air-pressure wave and is measured in bels (or decibels). The more decibels, the noisier the sound.

Question 3

Subjective Dimensions of Sound

Answer 3

Loudness
Pitch
Timbre

Question 4

Loudness

Answer 4

The subjective experience of the magnitude or intensity of sound

Question 5

Pitch

Answer 5

The subjective experience or perception of the frequency of sound.

Question 6

Timbre

Answer 6

The quality of a particular sound

Question 7

Main Parts of the Ear

Answer 7

Outer Ear
Middle Ear
Inner Ear

Question 8

Parts of the Outer Ear

Answer 8

Pinna
Auditory Canal Channel
Eardrum - Tympanic Membrane

Question 9

Ossicles of the Middle Ear

Answer 9

Hammer - Malleus
Anvil - Incus
Stirrup - Stapes

Question 10

Parts of the Inner Ear

Answer 10

Oval Window
Cochlea
Basilar Membrane
Organ of Corti (where the hair cells turn sound into electrical charges)
Auditory Nerve

Question 11

Auditory Pathways

Answer 11

Superior Olivary Complex
Inferior Colliculus
Medial Geniculate Nucleus in the Thalamus
Temporal Cortex

Question 12

Place Theory

Answer 12

The idea that each different pitch causes a different place on the basilar membrane to vibrate thus causing different hair cells to bend.

Question 13

Frequency Theory

Answer 13

The idea that the basilar membrane vibrates as a whole and that the rate of the vibration equals the frequency of the stimulus.

Question 14

Traveling Wave Theory

Answer 14

The idea that the movement of the basilar membrane is maximal at a different place along the basilar membrane for different frequency; although the whole basilar membrane vibrates for any given stimulus.