PSY 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Kurt Koffka, Air Separation, Complementary Colors
Document Summary
Outer ear - pinna, auditory canal, and ear drum; funnels sound, causes eardrum to vibrate. Middle ear - consists of tiny bones (ossicles) linking the eardrum to the oval window; increases pressure exerted on inner ear. Inner ear - consists primarily of the cochlea; fluid-filled structure where transduction takes place: parts: Hair cells, receptor cells for hearing, embedded in basilar membrane: how it works: Vibration of ossicles against oval window causes wave-like motion of basilar membrane. Bending triggers impulses, and neurotransmitter released by hair cells act on auditory senses: pitch perception - place coding (for higher frequencies) Different locations within the membrane are maximally deformed at different frequencies - you hear certain pitches when hair cells in certain areas bend: pitch perception - temporal coding. For lower frequencies (below 4000-5000 hz), pitch determined primarily by firing rate. Partly based on differences in volume of sound detected by each ear.
