PSY 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Basilar Membrane, Sensorineural Hearing Loss, Semicircular Canals

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 1101
• Professor: Najwa Haddad

Document Summary

Audition: the sense or act of earring. The amplitude of a sound determines their loudness. Their length, or frequency, determines the pitch we experience. Long waves have low frequencies and a low pitch. Short waves have high frequencies and a high pitch. Frequency: the number of complete wave lengths that pass a point in a given time. Pitch: a tones experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency. We measure sounds in decibels with zero decibels representing the absolute threshold for hearing. This process transform vibrating air into nerve impulses with or brain decodes as sound. This begins when sound waves enter the outer ear. A chain reaction begins as the visible outer ear channels the waves through the auditory canal to the eardrum ( a tight membrane ) causing it to vibrate. In the middle ear, a piston made up of three tiny bones (the hammer, anvil. and stirrup) picks up the vibrations and transmits them to cochlea.