Psychology 2115A/B Lecture Notes - Sine Wave, Vestibular Duct, Oval Window

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2115A/B
• Professor: Christine Tsang

Document Summary

By the end of this section, you should know about: Object identification: helps us identify things in our environment around us. Communication: for humans, communication usually occurs via spoken language. Object location: we use sound to figure out where objects are located in space. If we combine that with visual process, we are able to quickly hone in on the source that is getting our attention. Can think of a sound stimulus as changes in air pressure. Tuning fork vibrates causing vibrations in the air molecules around it to vibrate: 2 components: Compression: increase in density of molecules in the wave increase in density causes increase in pressure of a wave. Retraction: decline in the density of a wave and, by extension, a decline in the pressure of the air molecules themselves. Sound is a wave of mechanical energy. Setting air molecules in motion and the motion of those molecules creates a pressure wave around them.