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Perception 4 Summary

This document summarizes key aspects of hearing and auditory perception. It describes how sound is produced through pressure waves, and how pure and complex sounds can be characterized. It then outlines the basic anatomy of the outer, middle, and inner ear, and how sound waves are transmitted and converted into electrical signals. Finally, it explains how loudness and pitch are perceived, relating them to amplitude and frequency of sounds, and how the auditory system codes this information through place and timing codes.

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Matthew Malek
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33 views5 pages

Perception 4 Summary

This document summarizes key aspects of hearing and auditory perception. It describes how sound is produced through pressure waves, and how pure and complex sounds can be characterized. It then outlines the basic anatomy of the outer, middle, and inner ear, and how sound waves are transmitted and converted into electrical signals. Finally, it explains how loudness and pitch are perceived, relating them to amplitude and frequency of sounds, and how the auditory system codes this information through place and timing codes.

Uploaded by

Matthew Malek
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Perception 4

Loudness &
Pitch
Dr Neil Roach
Summary 1

Learning objective: Describe the stimulus for hearing

Sound is pressure changes in a medium (typically air) caused by the


vibration of an object

• Pure tones are sounds where pressure changes follow a sine wave and
can described by their amplitude and frequency
• Complex sounds are made up of two or more waveforms with different
frequencies.

• Naturally produced sounds are typically made up of a fundamental


frequency and several harmonics
Summary 2

Learning objective: Outline the basic structure and operation of the human
auditory system

Outer ear
• The pinnae are the visible external part of the ear which funnel sound
into the ear canal
• The tympanic membrane (ear drum) is a membrane separating outer
and middle ear that vibrates in response to sound
Middle ear
• The ossicles (malleus, incus & stapes) amplify the vibrations and
transmit the to the oval window of the cochlea
Inner ear
• Displacement of fluid up and down the cochlea produces vibration along
the basilar-membrane
• This is converted into electrical signals via hair cells in the Organ of
Corti and sent to auditory nerve
Summary 3a

Learning objective: Understand the perception of LOUDNESS (how it relates to


auditory input and this input is coded by the auditory system)

Perception of loudness is related to the amplitude of sound waves


• the range of sound amplitudes encountered is very large
• measured on a logarithmic scale in units called decibels (dB)

Sound amplitude is coded in in the firing rate of auditory nerve fibers (rate
code)
• larger amplitude sounds result in higher firing rates

Perceived loudness not directly proportional to amplitude


• For a sound to double in loudness, it needs to be more than doubled in
amplitude
• Sounds with the same amplitude but different frequencies will differ
in loudness
Summary 3b

Learning objective: Understand the perception of PITCH (how it relates to


auditory input and this input is coded by the auditory system)

Perception of pitch is related to the frequency of sound waves

Sound frequency is coded by the auditory system in two ways:


• Place code – sounds of a given frequencies cause vibration in a specific
areas along the basilar membrane (low = near apex, high = near base)

• Timing code – auditory nerve responses are phase-locked to pressure


changes in sounds up to around 4000Hz

Perceived pitch of complex sounds is typically determined by the fundamental


(lowest) frequency

However, phenomena like the missing fundamental illusion demonstrate that


pitch perception is not entirely determined by the cochlea (top-down
processes)

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