Download A.P. Psychology 4 (D)

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A.P. Psychology
Unit 4: Sensation and Perception
“Hearing”
Parts of the Ear:

Outer Ear:
o Channels sound waves through the auditory canal to the eardrum, a
tight membrane that vibrates with the waves

Middle Ear
o The chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny
bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of
the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window

Inner Ear:
o The innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular
canals, and vestibular sacs

Cochlea:
o A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound
waves trigger nerve impulses
o Incoming vibrations cause the cochlea’s membrane (the oval window)
to vibrate, jostling the fluid that fills the tube
o This motion causes ripples in the basilar membrane, bending the hair
cells lining its surface
o Hair cell movement triggers impulses in the adjacent nerve cells,
whose axons converge to form the auditory nerve
o Auditory nerve sends neural messages (via the thalamus) to the
temporal lobe’s auditory cortex