Sensation and Perception 2 Flashcards
Auditory system, smell and taste
What are the four features of all sensory systems?
- Each system converts a different type of energy into electricity.
- Each system has a receptive field.
- Each system creates a sensory flow.
- Each system has a relay system in operation (stages of intervening neurons in the brain).
What are the four principles of sensation?
- Hierarchical organisation
- Functional segregation
- Parallel processing
- Multisensory integration
What is the receptor for sound/audition?
The ear.
How does auditory information travel to our ears?
Soundwaves enter the ear as long as they are carried by some medium (air, water). No medium, no noise.
What are the three major characteristics of soundwaves?
- Loudness (amplitude) - generally greater amplitude = louder.
- Pitch (frequency) - related to perception. Higher frequency = higher sound.
- Timbre (complexity) = tone.
How does the outer ear work?
Soundwaves enter the ear via the pinna (outer ear).
The pinna redirects the soundwaves down the ear and they travel down the auditory canal to the tympanic membrane (eardrum).
This causes the eardrum to vibrate.
The pinna alters the reflections of soundwaves - we learn to use this information to locate the source of sounds.
How does the middle ear work?
When the tympanic membrane vibrates, it sends vibrations towards the bones (or ossicles) of the middle ear - the hammer (malleus), the anvil (ancus), and the stirrup (stapes).
What are the three bones in the middle ear?
- Hammer (malleus)
- Anvil (ancus)
- Stirrup (stapes)
How does sound travel from the middle ear to the inner ear?
The last bone of the middle ear (the stapes/stirrup) presses against the oval window of the cochlea, causing it to vibrate.
What shape is the cochlea?
The shape of a snail.
What happens in the cochlea?
The oval window of the cochlea vibrates due to the stapes pressing against it.
The vibrations hit the fluid in the cochlea and disturbs it.
The fluid has a dampening effect on the sound.
