AP Psych Unit 3: Mods 20 & 21

Hearing & Other Senses

audition

sense or act of hearing

frequency

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

pitch

a tone’s experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency

middle ear

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

cochlea

coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses

inner ear

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

sensorineural hearing loss

hearing loss caused by damage to cochlea’s receptor cells or auditory nerves; nerve deafness

conduction hearing loss

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

cochlear implant

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

place theory

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

frequency theory

theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up auditory nerve matches the freq of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch

gate-control theory

theory that spinal chord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks or allows pain signals and allows them to pass on to brain; gate “opened” by activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and “closed” by activity in larger fibers or info from brain

kinesthesia

system for sensing position and movement of individual body parts

vestibular sense

sense of body movement and position, including sense of balance

sensory interaction

principle that one sense may influence another; as when the smell of food influences its taste

embodied cognition

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

hair cells

line basilar membrane; movement causes impulses in adjacent nerve cells

auditory nerve

hair cell axons converge to form auditory nerve; sends neural messages (via thalamus) to auditory cortex in brain’s temporal lobe

nociceptors

sensory receptors that detect hurtful temps, pressures, and chemicals in body

phantom limb sensations

brain misinterprets spontaneous central nervous system activity that occurs in absence of normal sensory input

anosmia

loss of sense of smell

olfaction

resulting experiences of a smell