AP Psych Vocab 1.6c-1.6d

audition

the sense or act of

hearing.

frequency

the number of

complete wavelengths that

pass a point in a given time (for

example, per second).

pitch

tone's experienced

highness or lowness; depends on

frequency.

middle ear

the chamber

between the eardrum and the

cochlea containing three tiny

bones 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 hearing loss

the most common form of

hearing loss, caused by damage

to the cochlea's receptor cells or

to the auditory nerve; also called

nerve deafness.

conduction hearing loss

a less common form of hearing

loss, caused by damage to the

mechanical system that conducts

sound waves to the cochlea.

cochlear implant

a device

for converting sounds into

electrical signals and stimulating

the auditory nerve through

electrodes threaded into the

cochlea,

place theory

in hearing the

theory that links the pitch we

hear with the place where

the cochlea's membrane is

stimulated. (Also called place

coding.)

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.

(Also called temporal coding.)

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.

gustation

our sense of taste.

olfaction

our sense of smell.

kinesthesis

our movement sense; our

system for sensing the position

and movement of individual

body parts.

vestibular sense

our balance

sense; our sense of body

movement and position that

enables our sense of balance.

sensory interaction

the

principle that one sense can

influence another, as when the

smell of food influences its taste.

embodied cognition

the

influence of bodily sensations,

gestures, and other states on

cognitive preferences and

judgments.