Humans can hear sound frequencies from about $$20$$ Hz to $$20{,}000$$ Hz, and human hearing is most sensitive to frequencies near the middle of that range.

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The perception of sound is called hearing, or auditory perception. The perception of sound happens through the perception of noise through vibrations, changes in pressure within the surrounding medium, through the ear (in humans). 

Hearing (auditory perception)

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020, April 22). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction

OpenStax Psychology (2nd ed.) Textbook

- speech segmentation
- audio and somatosensory processing

Focuses of hearing (auditory perception)

Sound localization is the auditory ability to identify the origin of a sound within an environment, which is a crucial aspect of hearing. This ability is analogous to depth perception in the visual system. Just as depth perception relies on monocular and binocular visual cues, the auditory system utilizes both monaural (one-eared) and binaural (two-eared) cues to pinpoint where a sound is coming from.

Sound Localization

A musician plays a single note on a flute, and then plays the exact same note on a tuba. A listener perceives the tuba's note as being much lower and the flute's note as being much higher, even though they are played at the same volume. Which statement correctly analyzes the fundamental difference in the physical properties of the sound waves produced by each instrument to create this perceptual distinction?

Human Audible Frequency Range

Audible frequency range is the span of sound frequencies a species can hear, and this range differs across species. In the textbook examples, chickens hear roughly $$125$$ to $$2000$$ Hz, mice hear roughly $$1000$$ to $$91000$$ Hz, beluga whales hear roughly $$1000$$ to $$123000$$ Hz, dogs hear about $$70$$ to $$45000$$ Hz, and cats hear about $$45$$ to $$64000$$ Hz.

Species Differences in Audible Frequency Range

There are multiple theories proposed to explain how the auditory system accounts for pitch perception, with two prominent models being the temporal theory and the place theory.

Pitch Perception Theories

Deafness refers to the partial or complete inability to hear.

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