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12 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Describe how the structure of our auditory system affects the way we interpret the world around us |
The auditory system aids us in determining where sound is coming from |
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Identify which physical characteristics of sound corresponds to which psychological characteristics |
Amplitude - Intensity (loudness) Frequency - Pitch Spectrum - Timbre |
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Describe the auditory system from ear to cortex |
Outer Ear - pinna, ear canal, and the ear drum; pinnae funnels sound into ear canal to vibrate ear drum Middle Ear - ossicles; sound waves vibrate ear drum which vibrates ossicles, ossicles amplify system Cochlea - frequency analyzer, breaking down complex sounds into discrete frequency components Cilia - involved in movement/transducing mechanical vibration into neural activity |
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Describe how sound waves are translated by our auditory system into psychological characteristics |
Hair cells inside the cochlea have little hairs (cilia) when fluid goes through the cochlea, movement in one direction causes depolarization of hair cell = action potential in auditory nerve going to brain |
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Explain how the physical characteristics of sound are perceived by our brain |
Pitch - attribute of sounds that allows you to order them on a musical scale Loudness - if a sound is intense, then each nerve fibre attached to responsive place on basilar membrane will fire as much as it can Timbre - allows us to distinguish the different qualities of different instruments when playing the same note |
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Explain how pitch, loudness and timbre are coded |
Pitch: Place Coded - tonotopic organization is maintained all the way to the primary auditory cortex - pitch heard based on location of nerve fibres stimulated Temporal Code - based on the firing rate of nerve fibres, lower frequency sounds Loudness: Sound intensity coded by degree of auditory nerve fibre fires - intense sound = firing as much as it can Timbre: Cochlea analyzes complex sounds into components - response to each component detecting frequencies/amplitudes - determine timbre |
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Describe the ways we localize sound |
Pinna - sound bounces off pinnae, spectral changes are consistent for particular directions, help to locate sounds Timing Cues - sounds from one side arrive at that ear first, middle sounds arrive at both ears at the same time, help locate sounds Intensity Cues - less intense at the ear further away from the source, compared to the ear nearer the source |
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Describe how chemical signals are translated by our olfactory and gustatory senses into psychological characteristics |
Olfactory - different oderants trigger different mucosa and sends signals to olfactory cortex, patterns of receptors activated = interpretation of specific smells |
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Explain how the chemical senses work together and the relationship among the olfactory system, our emotions, and our memories |
The orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala are both very involved in assigning emotional value to events Thus smells can be evocative of emotions and trigger memories stored in the hippocampus (long-term memory) |
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Describe the somatosensory system from periphery to cortex |
Stimuli from pain receptors are relayed through the thalamus to the somatosensory cortex, limbic system, and prefrontal cortex |
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Describe how your sensitivity to touch is reflected in the homunculus |
Areas of our body that are very sensitive such as the face and hands have much more cortical representation than areas that are less sensitive such as the trunk |
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Describe the kinaesthetic and vestibular senses and their practical significance |
Kinaesthetic - continually providing info about the position and movement of our limbs in space Vestibular - detect changes in movements and also the force of gravity |
