audition

the sense/act of hearing

frequency

the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second)

pitch

a tone's experienced highness or lowness, depends on frequency

middle ear

the chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window

cochlea

a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses

inner ear

the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs

sensorineural hearing loss

the most common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerve; also called nerve deafness

conduction hearing loss

a less common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea

cochlear implant

a device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea

place theory

in hearing, the theory that links the pitch people hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated (place coding)

frequency theory

in hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling people to sense its pitch (temporal coding)

gate-control theory

the theory that spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The "gate" is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain

hypnosis

a social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur

dissociation

a split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors ot occur simultaneously with others

posthypnotic suggestion

a suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by some clinicians to help control undesired symptoms and behaviors

gustation

our sense of taste

olfaction

our sense of smell

kinesthesia

our movement sense, our system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

vestibular sense

our balance sense, our sense of body movement and position that enables our sense of balance

sensory interaction

the principle that one sense can influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste

embodied cognition

the influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgments

extrasensory perception

perception that can occur apart from sensory input; telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition

parapsychology

the study of paranormal phenomena