Unit 10 Flashcards

1
Q

Why is hearing an important part of perception?

A

relies on auditory perception, not light
-> provides information about objects that may be invisible

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2
Q

What are the benefits of hearing?

A

sound my indicate presence of predator before he can be seen
-> evolutional advantage
adds richness to our lives
-> enjoying music, communication

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3
Q

What does the distal stimulus produce in auditory perception?

A

pressure changes in the air

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4
Q

How is a sound stimulus produced?

A

movement or vibrations of an object cause pressure changes in the air

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5
Q

sound wave

A

doesn’t consist of air molecules moving
-> air molecules move backwards and forwards
-> push changes toward observer

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6
Q

How can sound waves be described?

A

sine wave

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7
Q

How can sound waves be measured?

A

frequency
amplitude

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7
Q

Frequency

A

number of cycles completed in a second
measured in hertz (Hz)
1 Hz = one cycle

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8
Q

Amplitude

A

difference between high and low peaks
measured in decibels (Db)

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9
Q

High frequencies and amplitudes

A

High frequencies ->generally result in higher pitch
High amplitudes -> generally result in greater loudness

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10
Q

What does loudness depend on?

A

frequency and amplitude
high amplitude is usually louder, but it also depends on the frequency
0 db -> barely noticeable
120 db -> possible hearing damage

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11
Q

How is the correlation between frequencies and amplitudes demonstated?

A

audibility curve

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12
Q

Which range of frequency do humans perceive?

A

–20 - –20.000 HZ

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13
Q

What does the audibility curve describe?

A

relationship between amplitude and frequency
-> baseline of loudness

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14
Q

Which frequency do we hear the easiest?

A

2.000 - 4.000 Hz
-> range of speech

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15
Q

Auditory response area

A

range we can hear
-> anything below threshold of hearing: not perceivable
-> above threshold of feeling (upper boundary): discomfort and maybe damage

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16
Q

Equal loudness curve

A

indicates sound levels that create same perception of loudness at different frequencies
demonstrates that amplitude alone doesnt necessarily result in greater loudness

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17
Q

How can we conceptualise pitch in terms of music?

A

Sounds of different pitch occupy different positions of music scale

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18
Q

Fundamental frequency

A

Base frequency of a key on a keyboard
(E.g. A0= 27.5Hz)
Increasing fundamental frequency
-> higher pitch

19
Q

Tone chroma

A

Notes of same letter sound similar

20
Q

When do we go up an octave?

A

Each time we pass the same letter

21
Q

What is the frequency of notes with the same tone chroma?

A

Frequency of previous letter (an octave lower) multiplied by two

22
Q

Pure tone

A

A sound wave that can be described by a sine wave
Rarely occurs in nature

23
Q

Complex tones

A

More than one pure tone added up together
-> more complex waveform

24
Q

What are the component pure tones that make up complex tones called?

A

Harmonics

25
Q

When do we have a different timbre?

A

Same pitch, loudness and duration but different sound (e.g. same note on piano or guitar)

26
Q

Why do differences in timbre occur?

A

Complex waveform by each sound consists of different combination of harmonics

27
Q

What is the timbre of a sound also determined by?

A

Attack: build up of sound until it reaches steady intensity
Delay: decrease in intensity at end of sound

28
Q

What is the issue of auditory localisation?

A

Sounds from different locations stimulate same hearing receptors
-> use of different cues created by interaction of sound waves with head and ears

29
Q

Binaural cues

A

Information from both ears helping determine left-right position
-> based on interaural level difference
(Difference in sound pressure intensity on each ear)

30
Q

Why does the interaural level difference occur?

A

Head produces acoustic shadow
-> sounds from one side of the head will reach the other side with lower intensity
-> only works for high frequency sounds (because head is larger than distance between high-frequency sound wave cycles)

31
Q

Interaural time differences

A

Time difference between a sound reaching each ear
-> sounds directly in front of the observer have no time difference
-> sounds from a specific side of the head will reach the closer ear faster

32
Q

Monaural cues

A

Information about elevation location
-> mainly use spectral cues

33
Q

Spectral cues

A

Sounds originating from different elevations stimulate hearing receptors with different intensity depending on frequency

34
Q

How are spectral cues possible?

A

Shape of our pinnae
-> before sound enters auditory canal bounces off of folds of pinnae
-> different way of bouncing depending on elevation

35
Q

How was the role of our pinnae proven?

A

Placing a mold in pinnae to change shape disrupts ability to detect elevation

36
Q

Direct sound

A

Sound travels directly from source to ears
Mainly outdoors

37
Q

Auditory perception indoors

A

Direct sound + indirect sound
Indirect sound: sound bounces off of objects as well before reaching ears

38
Q

Which problem does auditory perception indoors cause

A

Sound reaches ears from different locations at different times
-> decision as to where original sound comes from

39
Q

How does the auditory system solve the problem of direct and indirect sounds?

A

Relatively long delay: >100ms
-> sound perceived
Short delay: 5-20 ms
-> only first sound perceived
=> precedence effect

40
Q

Precedence effect

A

Only first sound perceived

41
Q

Echo

A

Very long delay of indirect sounds reaching ears
In very large buildings
Make detection of source hard

42
Q

Architectural acoustics

A

Study of how sounds are reflected in rooms
Used to optimise concert halls

43
Q

How is the amount of indirect sound measured?

A

Reverberation time
-> time it takes for sound to reach 1/1000th of original pressure

44
Q

What is the ideal reverberation time for acoustic engineers?

A

~2s
Still doesn’t guarantee good sound

45
Q

How does the auditory system organise the elements of a scene?

A

Location cues: interaural level and time difference
Onset time: two sounds start at slightly different times
Timbre and pitch: sounds with same timbre and pitch often have same source
Auditory continuity: constant or smoothly changing sounds come from same source
Experience

46
Q

Scale illusion task

A

Deutsch
Sounds for each ear alternating with low and high notes without creating scale
Scale only perceivable by combining both inputs
-> subjects heard scale
-> auditory system appears to group sounds of same pitch