AP Psychology - Unit 4: Section 3

Audition

The sense or act of hearing

Frequency

The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in given time (ex. per second)

Pitch

A tone’s experienced highness or lowness; Depends on frequency

Amplitude

The height of a sound wave, which determines their perceived loudness

Middle ear

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

Cochlea

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

Sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses

Inner ear

The innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs

Sensorineural deafness

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

The most common form of hearing loss

With auditory nerve damage, people may hear sound, but have trouble discerning what someone is saying

AKA “nerve deafness”

Conduction deafness

Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system (the eardrum and the middle bones) that conducts sound waves to the cochlea

A less common form of hearing loss

Cochlear implant

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

Functions by translating sounds into electrical signals that are transmitted to the cochlea and relayed to the brain via the auditory nerve

Place theory

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

Proposes that our brain interprets a particular pitch by decoding the place where a sound wave stimulates the cochlea’s basilar membrane

The brain determines a sound’s pitch by recognizing the specific area (on the membrane) that is generating the neural signal

Explains how we hear high-pitched sounds

Frequency theory

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

Proposes that the brain deciphers the frequency of the neural impulses traveling up the auditory nerve to the brain. By altering their firing (the volley principle/theory), neural cells enable us to sense sounds with frequencies that exceed the firing speed of an individual neuron

The whole basilar membrane vibrates with the incoming sound wave, triggering neural impulses to the brain at the same rate as the sound wave

Explains how we hear low-pitched sounds

AKA “Temporal theory”

Vestibular sense

Our sense of body movement and position that enables our sense of balance

Loudness

The psychological, subjective perception of sound, intensity, or volume

A subjective experience that depends on physical factors like sound wave amplitude and frequency, but also on individual differences in auditory sensitivity and psychological factors like attention and environment

The brain interprets loudness from the number of active hair cells

Volley principle/theory

How we perceive high-frequency sounds by proposing that groups of neurons fire in alternating (“volleying”) patterns to keep up with the rapid vibrations

An extension of the Frequency theory

Semicircular canals

The three fluid-filled tubes in the inner ear that are part of the vestibular system and are responsible for detecting rotational movements of the head, which helps maintain balance and spatial orientation

Nociceptors

Sensory receptors found mostly in your skin, but also in muscles and organs, that detect hurtful temperatures, pressure, or chemicals

Gate-control theory

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

Phantom limb sensations

The perception of sensations (including pain) in a limb that has been amputated

This phenomenon occurs because the brain’s sensory map has not fully adapted to the loss of the limb, leading the brain to continue sending signals to the missing part and misinterpreting input from nearby areas

Endorphins

A neurotransmitter that’s a natural painkiller released from the brain; Released in response to severe pain or even vigorous exercise

Gustation

Our sense of taste that involves several basic sensations

The sense of taste, which involves the detection and perception of chemical stimuli in food through taste buds on the tongue

Sweet, sour, salty, bitter

Taste sensations, with all others stemming from mixtures of these four

Sweet - Indicates energy source

Salty - Indicates sodium essential to physiological processes

Sour - Indicated potentially toxic acid

Bitter - Indicates potential poisons

Umami

The savory, meaty taste—best experienced as the flavor enhancer of monosodium glutamate (MSG)

Indicates proteins to grow and repair tissue

A proposed fifth taste sensation

Oleogustus

The unique, often unpleasant, taste of fatty acids; Characterized as being similar to the taste of rancid oil

A proposed sixth taste sensation

Olfaction

The sense of smell

Olfactory system

The sensory system responsible for the sense of smell

Involves a network of olfactory receptors in the nose, the olfactory bulb in the brain, and the neural pathways that lead to the brain’s “nose brain” (rhinencephalon, which is linked to the nervous system)

Pheromones

Molecules secreted by other members of their species, some serving as sexual attractants

Chemical substances secreted by an organism that can affect behavior or physiology of other members of the same species

Kinesthesia

Our movement sense; Our system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

Sensory interaction

The principle that one sense may influence another (ex. when the smell of food influences its taste)

Embodied cognition

The influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgements

Synesthesia

A phenomenon where the stimulation of one sense (such as hearing sound) triggers an experience of another (such as seeing color)

Somatosensory cortex

An area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations

Pitch perception

The ability to determine the highness or lowness of a sound, which is determined by the frequency of sound waves

How the brain distinguishes between different tones, notes, and speech intonations by processing the physical properties of sound waves and translating them into neural signals

Sound localization

The ability to determine the location of a sound in space, which is defined by using cues like the differences in arrival time and intensity between the two ears to pinpoint the source of the sound

Supertasters, nontasters, medium tasters

Classifications for taste perception based on genetic variations in taste bud density, leading to differing sensitivities to flavors, especially bitterness

Supertasters

Individuals with a higher-than-average number of taste buds, leading to heightened sensitivity to flavors

Medium tasters

Individuals with an average number of taste buds and a typical level of taste perception

Nontasters

Individuals with a lower-than-average number of taste buds, resulting in reduced taste perception

Warm/cold receptors

Specialized thermoreceptors in the skin that detect temperature by allowing us to perceive temperature differences through the somatosensory system

Warm receptors

Increase their signal rate when they detect heat transfer into the body

Cold receptors

Increase their firing rate during cooling (heat transfer out of the body)

There are more cold receptors in the body, which explains why we are more sensitive to the cold than heat

Auditory canal

The channel located in the outer ear that funnels sound waves from the pinna to the tympanic membrane (eardrum)

Eardrum

A thin layer of tissue that vibrates in response to sound waves

AKA “tympanic membrane”

Ossicles

The 3 bones that transfer the sound wave vibrations from the tymphanic membrane (eardrum) to the oval window of the cochlea

Made up of the 3 smallest bones in the human body: the hammer (malleus), anvil (incus), and strirrup (stapes)

Oval window

The membrane-covered opening of the cochlea that vibrates when it receives the sound waves and causes the fluid inside the cochlea to move

Transduction (in the ear)

The motion of the sound vibration against the oval window of the cochlea causes ripples in the basilar membrane, bending the hair cells (cilia) lining its surface, causing the sound waves to be transduced into neural impulses