Psych Modules 20-21

The sense or act of hearing

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

A tone’s experienced highness or lowness

Depends on frequency

The attribute of auditory sensation which enables a listener to judge that two nonidentical sounds, similarly presented and having the same loudness and pitch, are dissimilar

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

A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear

Sound waves traveling through the fluid trigger nerve impulses

The innermost part of the ear

Contains the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs

Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerves

(AKA nerve deafness)

Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea

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

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

Better for explaining how we hear high frequency

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

Better for explaining how we wear low frequency

Sensory receptors that detect hurtful temperatures, pressure, or chemicals

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

The gate is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain

The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

The sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance

The principle that one sense may influence another, like when the smell of food influences its taste

In psychological science, the influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgements

A pair of swellings underneath the frontal lobes of the brain that transmit odor information from the nose to the brain

Receives signals from the olfactory nerve and then transmits them to the brain