PSYC 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Basilar Membrane, Cochlea, Tonotopy

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100
• Professor: Jordan Poppenk

Document Summary

These two structures funnel sound into the ear canal so that it can vibrate the ear drum: sound bounces off the pinnae, depending on the direction from which the sound is coming, that changes the spectrum of the sound entering the ear, and the spectral changes are consistent for particular directions. Most sounds consist of many different frequencies, which can be shown in a spectrum: frequency: the number of peaks per second (the inverse of wavelength), spectrum: a graph showing the different component frequencies (or wavelengths) in a sound (or a source of light). The timbre depends on the relative amplitudes (buyukluk, cokluk) of the components the amount of each component in the mixture just like the perceived colour of light depends on the wavelengths of the component lights in a mixture: as you"ve learned, the cochlea analyzes complex sounds into components.