PSYC 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Sound, Middle Ear, Ossicles

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 1000
• Professor: Lara Geniks

Document Summary

*note *the human ear is to detect sound waves and to transform that information into neural signals. Psychological definition of sound: the experience we have when we hear. *sound waves: vibrations in molecules that travel through the air. *sound waves have two important characteristics: *frequency: refers to wavelength and is measured in hertz (hz), the number of cycles a sound wave travels per second. Frequency is the quality of sound waves that is associated with change in pitch: *amplitude: determines its loudness. High-amplitude sounds waves are louder than low amplitude waves. Both types of information are gathered and analyzed by our ears. *note* humans are able to detect sounds in the frequency range from 20 hz to 20 000hz*we are most sensitive to sounds at frequencies of 2000hz. They have a short fast wavelength, high pitch. High frequency sounds stimulate hair cells closest to the ossicles. They have a long slower wavelength, low pitch.