Audiology

Question 1

What is considered a mild hearing loss?

Answer 1

pure tone average that falls between 15 to 40 dB

Question 2

What is signal to noise ratio?

Answer 2

ratio of the level of the signal you want compared to the level of background noise

Question 3

What is auditory discrimination?

Answer 3

ability to recognize, compare, and distinguish between specific sounds

Question 4

What are speech recognition thresholds?

Answer 4

lowest levels of hearing that a person can understand 50% of the words (Called spondee words or words with two syllables with equal stress on them such as downtown) presented

Question 5

What is Carhart’s notch?

Answer 5

a condition frequently found in patients with otosclerosis and is characterized by a reduced bone-conduction sensitivity predominantly at 2000 Hz.

Question 6

What are the parts associated with the outer ear?

Answer 6

auricle/pinna and the external auditory meatus

Question 7

What are the parts associated with the middle ear?

Answer 7

ossicular chain, tympanic membrane, acoustic reflex (middle ear muscles contract when person hears a very loud noise), tensor tympani (CN V innervation) and stapedius muscle (CN VII innervation) (which decreases the vibrations of the tympanic membrane)

Question 8

What are the parts associated with the inner ear?

Answer 8

cochlea, oval window, vestibular system, basilar membrane,

Question 9

What range of hearing is considered slight hearing loss?

Answer 9

16 to 25 dB

Question 10

What range of hearing is considered mild hearing loss?

Answer 10

26 to 40 dB

Question 11

What range of hearing is considered moderate hearing loss?

Answer 11

41 to 55 dB

Question 12

What range of hearing is considered moderately severe hearing loss?

Answer 12

56 to 70 dB

Question 13

What range of hearing is considered profound?

Answer 13

91 dB and greater

Question 14

What is the difference between big D deaf and little d deaf?

Answer 14

big D deaf is characterized by a person who identifies with the deaf community; little d deaf is characterized by a person who does not identify with the deaf community

Question 15

What is the pure tone hearing test?

Answer 15

by using an audiometer, you can determine the threshold of hearing at different frequencies

Question 16

What is the difference betwen a bone conduction test and an air conduction test?

Answer 16

bone conduction test is the placement of bone vibrators on the forehead and back of the ear to evaluate whether the sensorineural portion of the ear is fine, whereas an air conduction test is the use of headphones to deliver sound

Question 17

What is an impedance bridge?

Answer 17

an instrument used to measure changes in the acoustic energy as the sound stimulates the auditory system in which a sound stimulus is placed in the external ear canal with an airtight closure

Question 18

What is aural rehabilitation?

Answer 18

helping people with hearing loss achieve their full potential by focusing on speech reading and auditory training

Question 19

What does aural rehabilitation include?

Answer 19

evaluating hearing loss; assessing communication needs; determining if resources are available; prescribing and fitting a hearing aid; auditory training; counseling; using amplification systems; focus on communication patterns in the environment; addressing impact of social, vocational, psychological, and educational factors

Question 20

What is acoustic highlighting?

Answer 20

a method that focuses on the speaker using key words; speaking slowly; emphasizing the end of sentences; being near the listener; increased pitch and rhythm; increased repetition and redundancy.

Question 21

What is auditory training?

Answer 21

teach someone with a hearing impairment how to discriminate different sounds

Question 22

What is cued speech?

Answer 22

speech produced with manual cues that represent speech sounds

Question 23

What is the aural/oral method of training?

Answer 23

use amplification methods to activate the child’s residual hearing

Question 24

What is the manual approach?

Answer 24

nonverbal communication involving signing and fingerspelling

Question 25

What are tactile aids?

Answer 25

amplification for people who are deaf in which vibrations from the aids they touch are turned into sounds; involves lots of practice

Question 26

What are cochlear implants?

Answer 26

amplification for individuals with profound hearing loss in which a device is placed in the cochlea and other parts of the ear to send the sound via electrical impulses directly to the acoustic nerve ending in the cochlea.

Question 27

What is a cochlear implant made of?

Answer 27

microphone; processor; an external transmitter; implanted receiver

Question 28

What is the difference between pre-lingual and post-lingual with regards to hearing loss?

Answer 28

prelingual is hearing loss that happened before a child learned to talk, whereas post-lingual is hearing loss that happened after a child learned to talk

Question 29

What is the difference between operant audiometry and localization audiometry?

Answer 29

localization audiometry is presenting a sound and seeing if the infant will turn in the direction to where the sound is coming from
Operant audiometry is conditioning voluntary responses to sound stimuli to test a child’s hearing

Question 30

What is admittance?

Answer 30

a measure of the amount of energy that flows through the system

Question 31

What is tympanometry?

Answer 31

a procedure where acoustic immitance is measured using an impedance bridge in which a sound stimulus is placed in the external ear canal with airtight closure and measures the changes in acoustic energy

Question 32

What is the acoustic reflex?

Answer 32

a reflex response of muscles attached to the stapes bone; measured with an impedance meter

Question 33

What is auditory brainstem response?

Answer 33

technique used to record the electrical activity in the auditory nerve, brainstem, and cortical areas of the brain; used to test hearing in newborns

Question 34

What is auditory evoked potentials?

Answer 34

measurable electrical impulses that indicate changes in electrical activity of the brain.

Question 35

What are the muscles of the middle ear?

Answer 35

tensor tympani (innervated by CN V; stiffens the tympanic membrane to reduce vibrations)
Stapedius muscle (innervated by CN VII; stiffens the ossicular chain to reduce vibrations)

Question 36

What is involved in the inner ear?

Answer 36

vibrations of the stapes’ footplate causes Reissner’s membrane to move which moves the basilar membrane which causes hair cells on the organ of Corti to shear and generate electrical energy which nerve cells send as electrical energy to the brain

Question 37

For the basiliar membrane, the ______ is responsive to low frequency sounds and ______ is responsive to high frequency sounds

Answer 37

thickest part or the tip; thinnest part or the base

Question 38

Two assessments that are used to screen newborn hearing are

Answer 38

otoacoustic emissions (sounds created by the cochlea that pass through the middle ear and the inner ear) and auditory brainstem responses

Question 39

What is the word recognition test and what is it used for?

Answer 39

It is the ability for a person to discriminate between words and repeat a monosyllabic word that they have heard. It is used to determine individuals who can hear but cannot understand speech, which indicates sensorineural hearing loss