PSYC 110N Week 2 Assignment: How We Perceive the World Around Us

HOW WE PERCEIVE THE WORLD AROUND US How sound travels through the Ear The ear has many major parts that help sound travel. Sounds travel in a wave like motion, arriving at the outer ear forming vibrations that are funneled into the auditory canal which leads to the eardrum. When sound waves hit the eardrum, it vibrates. The more intense that the sound is, the more that the eardrum will vibrate. These vibrations then make their way to a place known as the middle ear, which consists of three different bones: hammer, anvil and stirrup. These bones increase the strength of the vibrations that are coming from the eardrum. The inner ear is responsible for changing the sound vibrations into something that can easily be transmitted to the brain. Inside the inner ear you will find the cochlea and the basilar membrane, these structures divide the ear into an upper chamber and lower chamber. The basilar membrane is covered in hair cells, and when these hair cells are bent by the vibrations coming from the cochlea they send messages to the brain.