Psychology C3 (p90-114)

Sound Waves

vibrations of the molecules of air expanding and contracting and travelling in waves that surround us

Wavelengths

frequency or pitch (low, medium, high)

Amplitude

volume (how soft/loud a sound is)

Purity

timbre (richness in tone)

Limit in Hz that humans can hear:

between 20-20,000 Hz

The Outer Ear consists of:

-pinna
-eardrum

Pinna

-visible part of the ear, funnels sound waves
-entrance to the auditory canal (ear canal)

The higher the wave, the ______ the sound

louder

The lower the wave, the ______ the sound

softer

The farther apart the waves are, the _______ the frequency

lower

The closer the waves are, the _______ the frequency

higher

Ear canal

Short tunnel that runs to the tympanic membrane (eardrum)

Tympanic membrane

Eardrum

The Middle Ear consists of:

-Hammer
-Anvil
-Stirrup

The middle ear's purpose is to:

amplify and send along vibrations to the inner ear

The Inner Ear consists of:

-Cochlea
-Semicircular canals

Oval Window

Inner ear membrane, vibrations set off chain reaction in the inner ear

Cochlea

snail-shaped structure, filled with fluid

Basilar Membrane

-Fluid surrounding a membrane running through the middle of the cochlea -- each cochlea has these
-contains the receptor neuron cells for hearing

Semicircular Canals

Three tiny fluid-filled tubes that helps with balance

-Stimulate receptors when rotated

-Ex. When you spin around and then stop, the fluid in the horizontal canal is still rotating; making you feel dizzy - your body is telling your you are still moving but your eyes are telling you you have stopped

-Motion sickness -- caused by overstimulation

Hair Cells

receptors for sound, when bent against another membrane, it causes them to send a neural message through the auditory nerve
-vibrated by the basilar membrane

Auditory nerve

contains axons of all receptor neurons

Auditory Cortex

Interprets sounds

The louder the sound, the ________ the vibrations that stimulate more hair cells

Stronger

Pitch

how high or low a sound is

What are the three theories about how the brain receives pitch

-Place Theory
-Frequency Theory
-Volley Principle

Place Theory

The theory of pitch that states that different pitches are experienced by the stimulation of hair cells in different locations on the organ of corti

-Ex. High pitched sound - all of the hair cells near the oval window will be stimulated, low pitched - all of the hair cells stimulated will be located farther away from the organ of corti

Who developed the Place Theory?

Hermann von Helmholtz

Frequency Theory

Pitch is related to the speed of vibrations in the basilar membrane
-Ex. The faster the membrane vibrates, the higher the pitch; the slower it vibrates, the lower the pitch

Who developed the Frequency Theory?

Ernest Rutherford

Volley Principle

Groups of auditory nerves take turns firing in a process called volleying

Ex. If a person hears a tone of about 3000 Hz, it means three groups of neurons have taken turns sending the messages to the brain, the first group for the first 1000 Hz, second group for the next 1000 Hz, etc.

Who developed the Volley Principle?

Ernest Weber and Charles Bray

Conduction Hearing Impairment

-Conductive hearing loss

-Problems with the mechanics of the outer or middle ear, sound vibrations cannot be passed from the eardrum to the cochlea

-Cause = might be a damaged eardrum or damage to the bones of the middle ear

-Treatment = Hearing aids

Nerve Hearing Impairment

-Sensorineural Hearing Loss

-Problem in inner ear or in the auditory pathways and cortical areas of the brain

-Most common type of permanent hearing loss

-Causes = Normal aging or exposure to loud noises damaging hair cells

Tinnitus

Extremely annoying ringing in one's ears, can be caused by infections or loud noises

Cochlear Implant

A device that sends signals from a microphone worn behind the ear to a sound processor, translates these signals into electrical stimuli that are sent to electrodes implanted directly into the cochlea

-Restores some of the hearing for irreversible nerve hearing impairment

Gustation

Taste

Taste Buds

Clusters of taste receptor cells located on the tongue, the roof of the mouth, cheeks, under the tongue, mouth, and throat

Supertasters

have a lot of taste buds

Papillae

Bumps on tongue

Each taste bud has ___ receptors

20

Taste buds line the walls of the ____

papillae

Taste is called a ______ sense

chemical

Taste receptors are replaced every ____

10-14 days

Who proposed four primary tastes?

Hans Henning

What are the 4 primary tastes?

-Sweet
-Sour
-Salty
-Bitter

Who proposed the idea of a fifth taste?

Dr. Kikunae Ikeda

What is the 5th taste?

Umami (brothy taste)

Perceived Sweetness

Obese individuals experience less sweetness than non-obese people

When you have a cold, food tastes ____

bland, because most of what you taste is what you smell

Olfaction

Ability to smell odors, located at the top of the nasal passages, contains 10 million receptor cells

Olfactory Receptor Cells

Each have about a half a dozen little "hairs" - Cilia

-the receptor cells send signals to the brain when stimulated by molecules of substances that are in the air moving past them

Cilia

"hairs" in the nose

How often do Olfactory Receptors get replaced?

Every 5 to 8 weeks

Sense of ______ does not pass through the thalamus

smell

Olfactory Bulbs

located right on top of the sinus cavity on each side of the brain directly beneath the frontal lobes

Messages from the olfactory receptors are sent here and then sent to higher cortical areas

Epithelium

Membrane within the nasal cavities, contains olfactory receptor neurons that are sensitive to the chemical signals of smell

Somesthetic Senses

The body senses; touch originates in several different places in and on the body

What is the purpose of Skin?

receiving and transmitting information from the outside world to the CNS

Skin Senses

Information about light touch, deeper pressure, warm cold, and pain is collected by special receptors in the skin's layers

Pacinian Corpuscles

respond to changes in pressure

Free Nerve Endings

Respond to changes in temperature, pressure, and pain

Visceral Pain

Receptors that detect pain and pressure in the organs

Somatic Pain

Pain sensations in the skin, muscles, tendons, and joints

-Is the body's warning system that something is being, or is about to be damaged -- sharp and fast pain

-Another type is a general ache, reminding and keeping people from further injury

Somatic Pain

Pain sensations in the skin, muscles, tendons, and joints

-Is the body's warning system that something is being, or is about to be damaged -- sharp and fast pain

-Another type is a general ache, reminding and keeping people from further injury

Congenital Analgesia and CIPA

people cannot feel pain

Phantom Limb Pain

When a person who has a missing limb "feels" pain in the missing limb

Gate-Control Theory

Pain signals must pass through a "gate" located in the spinal cord
-not a physical structure

-"Gate" open = pain impulses reach the brain
-"Gate" closed = less pain, closed by incoming impulses from large fibers

Who proposed the Gate-Control Theory?

Ronald Melzack and Patrick Wall

Substance P

Stimulation of pain receptor cells releases this substance
-activates other neurons that send their messages through spinal gates

Endorphins

Body's natural painkiller

Kinesthetic Sense

The location of body parts in relation to each other; is apart of the body's sense of movement and position in space

Ex. Telling where your foot is without looking

Vestibular Sense

Movement, body position and sense of balance

-Structures located in the innermost chamber of the ear

Proprioceptive Receptors

Cause joint movement or muscles stretching/contracting

Otolith Organs

Tiny sacs found just above the cochlea, containing a fluid where tiny crystals are suspended

-The crystals cause the fluid to vibrate, setting off receptors on the inner surface of the sac, tell the person they are moving forward, back, side, up, down

Motion Sickness

Information from the eyes may conflict with the vestibular organs; overstimulation causing dizziness, nausea and disorientation

-Called Sensory Conflict Theory

Perception

The method by which sensations experienced at any given moment are interpreted in some meaningful fashion

Power of attention

helps in focusing on certain stimuli in the environment while ignoring the rest

Paying attention

the first step in the process of perception

How do we perceive our world?

-A psychological process through which we interpret sensory stimulation
-Our interpretation of stimuli from our sense
-Highly subjective
-Reflects learning, expectations, and attitude

Constancy

The tendancy to interpret an object as being constant

Size Consistency

The tendency to interpret an object as always being the same size, regardless of its distance from the viewer

Shape Consistency

The tendency to interpret the shape of an object as constant, even when it changes on the retina

Ex. diff. angles of shapes

Brightness Consistency

The tendency to perceive the apparent brightness of an object as the same even when light conditions change

Ex. Person wearing black pants and white shirt - in daylight the shirt will appear brighter than the pants. If cloudy - The shirt will still appear bright

Who founded the Gestalt Theory?

Wertheimer

Figure-Ground Theory

We recognize objects (figures) by distinguishing them from the background (one image, we can switch the background that you stare at)

Ex. The Necker cube - Louis Albert Necker

Reversible figures

Illusions where the ground and the figure can be reversed (two images)

Proximity

The tendency to perceive objects that are close to one another as part of the same grouping - "nearness"

The 4 original principles of Proximity:

-Proximity
-Similarity
-Closure
-Continuity

The Gestalt Principles

Focus on human perception and the brain's tendency to group objects and perceive whole shapes

Similarity

The tendency to perceive things that look similar as being part of the same group

Closure

The tendency to complete figures that are incomplete

Continuity

The tendency to perceive things as simply as possible with a continuous pattern rather than a broken-up one

Contiguity

Involves nearness in space but also in time, the tendency to perceive two things that happen close together as related

Ex. Ventriloquists

Common Region

The tendency to perceive objects that are in a common area or region as being in a group

Depth Perception

-The capability to see the world in three dimensions
-Judging how far away objects are
-Present very early in infancy (visual cliff experiment)

Monocular Cues

Only require one eye (pictorial depth cues)

Linear Perspective

The tendency for parallel lines to appear to converge on each other
-The Ponzo Illusion

Relative Size

When objects that people expect to be of a certain size appear to be small, and are, therefore, assumed to be much farther away

Overlap/Interposition

If one object seems to be blocking another object, people assume that the blocked object is behind the first one and therefore, farther away