PSY100H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4.3: Auditory Cortex, Middle Ear, Hair Cell
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PSY100H1 Full Course Notes
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Document Summary
The function of the ear is to gather sound waves, and the function of hearing is to extract some sort of meaning from those sound waves; this meaning informs you about the nature of the sound source. The human ears function is to detect sound waves and transform that information into neural signals. Sound waves have 2 important characteristics: frequency and amplitude. Frequency refers to wavelength and is measured in hertz (hz), the number of cycles a sound wave travels per second. Pitch is the perceptual experience of sound wave frequencies. The amplitude of a sound wave determines its loudness. The human ear: the human ear is divided into the outer, middle and inner regions. The pinna channels sound waves to the ear and allows you to determine the source/location of a sound. The auditory canal extends from the pinna to the eardrum. Sound waves reaching the eardrum cause it to vibrate.
