PSYC 2390 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Oval Window, Perilymph, Impedance Matching

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2390
• Professor: Lana Trick

Document Summary

Compression waves (pushing molecules together) and rarefaction waves (pulling them apart) create a chain reaction into space to create a sound wave. Changes in air pressure normal, above normal (compression), below normal (rarefaction) Must vibrate in order for hearing to work. Scars (after breaking) can efect this ability and. Bones of the middle ear, smallest in the entire body, increase the sound pressure (make it louder/forceful), ear drum moves and pushes the bones and they push the cochlea in the inner ear. Concentration of the force into a small area. Goes from large ear drum into a small malleus makes the sound more powerful (like a stiletto focusing a persons weight into one small area) Small amount of force yielding a lot of pressure (like a teeter totter), small amount of efort to move something large, increase the power of the sound (impedance matching air movement to luid movement, concentrate the sound) Protective from extremely loud sounds, protect the cochlea.