AP PSYCHOLOGY

Sensation and Perception: Hearing

Sound

Sound comes in waves.The waves are produced by vibration.Sound is vibrationEx. Clap your hands, causes the air to

vibrate.

Demo

Brain determines the origins of sounds by timing.

Example: sound originates from the left of the head, those sound waves reach the left ear first and then bounce off of objects to the right of the head and then back to the right ear. COOL

The Psychological Aspects of Sound

Loudness: The dimension of auditory experience related to the intensity of a pressure wave. The amplitude of the sound wave determines loudness.

Loudness is measured in decibels (dB). The absolute threshold for hearing is 0 dB.

Subway train at 20 feet is 100 dbProlonged exposure above 70 db produces

hearing loss.

2nd Psychological aspect

Pitch: the dimension of auditory experience related to the frequency of a pressure wave.

Speed of waves Pitch is expressed as hertz (Hz)---the

# of waves that reach the ear each second.

Middle C on the piano represents a sound of 256 Hz

3rd Psychological Aspect

Timbre: the distinguishing quality of sound; the dimension of auditory experience related to the complexity of the pressure wave.

Timbre is what makes a note played on a flute sound entirely different if played on an oboe

Structure of the Auditory System

Auditory canal: the opening through which sound waves travel. Ends at the eardrum.

Eardrum: transfers sound vibration from the air to the three tiny bones in the middle ear.

Ossicles: three tiny bones that transfer sound waves from the ear drum to the cochlea.

Structure of the auditory system continues…

Oval window: the point on the surface of the cochlea which receives sound vibrations from the three tiny bones of the middle ear.

Cochlea the main organ of hearing; snail-shaped, bony, fluid-filled structure in the inner ear where sound waves are changed to neural impulses.

Cochlea is divided by the Basilar membrane

Thin strip of tissue located in the cochlea.B.M. contains the hair cells, the receptor

cells for hearing. They are NOT real HAIR!Neural message is transmitted to the brain by

way of the auditory nerve.

Structure of the Auditory System

Hair cells:

Pitch Theories

Place Theory: The hair cells in the cochlea respond to different frequencies of sound based on where they are located in the cochlea.

Pitch Theories

Frequency theory: pitch is determined by the frequency with which hair cells in the cochlea fire.

Deafness

1. Conduction deafness: damage to the middle ear, eardrum may be punctured, three little bones are damaged. Hearing aids help.

2. Nerve deafness: damage to the hair cells of the inner ear or damage to the auditory nerve. Exposure to loud sounds, disease, and aging. Cochlear implants are helpful

Mental Imagery

Mental representation of objects or events that are not physically present.

It can trigger our limbic system, hippocampus, and visual cortex among several other areas in the brain.

Lyrics/words…processed primarily on the left side of the brain