PSY 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Spinal Cord, Umami, Extrasensory Perception

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 1101
• Professor: Najwa Haddad

Document Summary

Sound wave are the physical stimulus for hearing, which gets interpreted into sound. Frequency: this refers to the wavelength (the distance between peaks), this is interpreted as pitch, high-pitch=short waves, low-pitch=long waves. Amplitude: this refers to the height of the wave (distance between the peaks and adjacent valleys), this is interpreted as loudness, great amplitude=loud sounds, short amplitude=soft sounds. Complexity: the variations of amplitude and frequencies in on sound wave, this is translated into timber. Captures sound waves and funnels them into the auditory canal. Sound waves cause vibrations, which vibrate the ossicles (anvil, hammer, stirrup) The vibrations of the ossicles in turn vibrate the cochlear fluid, causing th basilar membrane to vibrate, which bends the cilia on the auditory nerves. The louder the sound, the more cilia that are activated, the stronger the signal to the auditory center of the brain. The frequency will determine which part of the basilar membrane will be maximally activated.