Introduction to Psychoacoustics
Parsa Jouyan, Physics & Mathematics Undergraduate Student, University of Tehran
The physical aspects of sound waves are mainly studied in acoustics. On the other hand, psychoacoustics concerns how sounds are perceived and processed in our brains. After a brief discussion on vibrating strings and harmonic and inharmonic partials, our peripheral auditory system‘s function (the anatomy and physiology of our outer, middle and inner ear) is explained and three psychological quantities of sound (loudness, pitch and timbre) are introduced. These psychological characteristics of sound will be the main topic of our next session.