Psychology / Unit 3: Sensation and Perception
3.4 Hearing and the Other Senses
Notes
- Sound waves enter the outer ear, vibrate the eardrum and three tiny bones, then reach the fluid-filled cochlea. Hair cells in the cochlea turn vibrations into neural signals.
- Pitch depends on frequency (waves per second); loudness depends on amplitude. Very loud noise can permanently damage hair cells.
- Touch includes pressure, temperature and pain. Gate-control theory says pain signals can be blocked by other signals, which is why rubbing a bumped elbow helps.
- Taste (gustation) uses taste buds with sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami receptors. Smell (olfaction) is the only sense that goes to the brain without passing through the thalamus first, and is closely tied to memory and emotion.
- The vestibular sense controls balance; kinesthesis senses body position.
Practice
Where do hair cells turn sound vibrations into neural signals?
Hair cells inside the cochlea do this.
Which characteristic of a sound wave determines its pitch?
Higher frequency means higher pitch; amplitude relates to loudness.
Lena bumps her knee and rubs it, and it hurts less. Which idea explains this?
Touch signals from rubbing can block pain signals.
Ready for more? Take the Unit 3 test.