PSYC 3690 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Brainstem, Cerebral Cortex, Lever Action

• School: York University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 3690
• Professor: Alistair Mapp

Document Summary

Unlike vision, which depends on light traveling from objects to the eye, sound travels around. The first step in understanding the perceptual process for hearing is identifying the distal. The mechanical action is transformed into a sound stimulus--pressure changes in the air. These pressure changes trigger a sequence of events that results in a representation of sound within the ears, the sending of neural signals to the brain, and our eventual perception of the sound. Sound stimuli can be simple repeating pressure changes, or more complex pressure changes. The properties of these air pressure changes determine our ability to hear and are translated into sound qualities. Sound is both a physical stimulus and a perceptual response. Physical definition: sound is pressure changes in the air or other medium. Perceptual definition: sound is the experience we have when we hear. A sound stimulus occurs when the movements or vibrations of an object cause pressure.