Chapter 4.4: Hearing - More than Meets the Ear

Question 1

pure tone

Answer 1

Simple sound wave that consists of regularly alternating regions of higher and lower air pressure

Question 2

Frequency

Answer 2

Corresponds to our perception of pitch
Low frequency - Low-pitch sound
Higg frequency - high-pitched sound

Question 3

Amplitude

Answer 3

Corresponds to our perception of loudness
high amplitude = loud sound
low amplitude = soft sound

Question 4

Complexity

Answer 4

Corresponds to our perception of timbre
simple = pure tone
complex = mix of frequencies

Question 5

pitch

Answer 5

How high or low a sound is, as ordered on a musical scale

Question 6

timbre

Answer 6

the quality of sound that allows you to distinguish two sources with the same pitch and loudness

Question 7

What are the three main components of the ear

Answer 7

Outer ear
Middle ear
Inner ear

Question 8

Outer ear

Answer 8

Pinna - visible part
auditory canal
eardrum

Question 9

Middle ear

Answer 9

Ossicles - three smallest bones in the body

Question 10

Cochlea (Inner ear)

Answer 10

Latin for snail - Fluid filled tube containing cells that transduce sound vibrations into neural impulses

Question 11

Basilar membrane

Answer 11

A structure in the inner ear that moves up and down in time with vibrations relayed from the ossicles, transmitted through the oval window

Question 12

inner hair cells

Answer 12

Specialized auditory receptor neurons embedded in the basilar membrane

Question 13

Area A1

Answer 13

Primary auditory cortex in the temporal lobe

Question 14

Loudness

Answer 14

Loudness is signaled by the total amount of activity in hair cells

Question 15

Pitch

Answer 15

Place code- Brain uses information about the relative activity of hair cells across the whole basilar membrane to determine the pitch you hear
Temporal code - The brain uses the timing of the action potentials in the auditory nerve to help determine the pitch you hear

Question 16

TImbre

Answer 16

Relative activity of hair cells across the whole basilar membrane

Question 17

Location

Answer 17

Pinnas alter sound, emphasizing some frequency components over others depending on where the sound is coming from.

Sounds arrive a little sooner at the ear nearer to source than at the far ear

Higher-frequency components of a sound are more intense closer to the sound than in the father ear.

Question 18

Perceptual grouping

Answer 18

Brain determining which frequency components belong to a single source

Question 19

Perceptual segregation

Answer 19

Brain determining which frequency components belong to different sources

Question 20

Conductive hearing loss

Answer 20

Arises when eardrum or ossicles are damaged to the point that they can’t conduct sound waves to the cochlea effectively.

Question 21

Sensorineural hearing loss

Answer 21

Damage to the cochlea, the hair cells or the auditory nerve.