Part 1.1

Question 1

A properly fitted ear mold should:

a) Hold the Receiver in place
b) Seal the ear canal in some cases
c) Direct amplified sound towards the Tympanic Membrane
d) Be Cosmetically appealing
e) All of the above

Answer 1

e) All of the above

Question 2

The transistor depends upon the flow of electrons through:

a) A gas
b) A semi-conductor
c) A solid
d) a and c
e) b and c

Answer 2

e) b and c

Question 3

A transistor does what?

Answer 3

a semiconductor device that amplifies, oscillates, or switches the flow of current between two terminals by varying the current or voltage between one of the terminals and a third

Question 4

Which of the following pairs correctly compares transistors to vacuum tubes:

a) Emitter/Grid
b) Collector/Cathode
c) Base/Anode
d) Semi-conductor/filament
e) Current Amplifier/Voltage Amplifier

Answer 4

d) Semi-conductor/filament

A filament is the thin wire current runs through in a light bulb, and a semi-conductor is the thin strip of material that current runs through in a transistor.

Question 5

One of the following statements about volume controls is not accurate:

a) Allows user to select a comfortable listening level
b) Are mostly of the carbon type
c) Has consistent taper from aid to aid
d) Has a range of between 30 - 40 dB in an aid
e) Is sometimes a screw set control

Answer 5

b) Are mostly of the carbon type

The key here is that most people miss the word ‘not.’ Go through the questions looking for what is true, and isolate the answer that is not. There is such a thing as a carbon controls, but they are not common to hearing aids. I believe they were discontinued decades ago.

Question 6

Which of the following battery cells is used most frequently today:

a) Mercury
b) Silver oxide
c) Nicade
d) Zinc oxide
e) Zinc air

Answer 6

e) Zinc air

Question 7

The sound applied to the microphone is referred to as:

a) Output
b) MPO
c) Input
d) Saturation
e) Gain

Answer 7

The sound applied to the microphone is referred to as:
c) Input

Sound is ‘put in’ to the microphone.

Question 8

MPO stands for what & what does it mean?

Answer 8

Maximum Power Output

The greatest sound resulting from amplification that a hearing aid instrument can produce; an indication of hearing aid performance.

Question 9

The failure for a system to reproduce a wave form exactly is:

a) Frequency response
b) Distortion
c) Compression
d) Rarefaction
e) Saturation

Answer 9

b) Distortion

Question 10

Define Distortion

Answer 10

The failure of a system to reproduce a signal with accuracy and exactness. Frequencies that were not present in the original signal.

Question 11

How many types of distortion are there, and what are they called?

Answer 11

Harmonic, intermodulation and transient.

Question 12

Define Harmonic Distortion

Answer 12

Harmonics, or overtones, produced by a signal in addition to its basic frequency.

Caused when a hearing aid overloads the amplifier or earphone which then distorts the waveform and adds overtones that are superimposed on the signal, thus altering the original signal.

Question 13

Define Intermodulation Distortion

Answer 13

When two or more waves of different frequencies are simultaneously passing through an amplifier, causing severe harshness to the signal.

Question 14

Define Transient Distortion

Answer 14

Transient sounds bursting forth suddenly at relatively high loudness levels, and breaking off just as fast. Speech and music are full of transients. When a hearing aid cannot attack and decay sufficiently, the ear perceives sound as cloudy or washed out.

Question 15

The latest performance standards for hearing aids to which they are manufactured is:

a) ANSI 1987
b) HAIC 1999
c) ANSI 1984
d) ANSI 1996
e) ISO 1995

Answer 15

d) ANSI 1996

Question 16

If a hearing aid has a gain of 40 dB and the input is 65 dB, the output will be:

a) 100 dB
b) 130 dB
c) 15 dB
d) 125 dB
e) 105 dB

Answer 16

e) 105 dB

This is straight mathematics, 65 db is put in, turn up the gain 40db, and you’re going to have a total output of 105 db.

Question 17

Define Gain

Answer 17

The amount of additional intensity added by a hearing aid or other amplifying device to an incoming signal during the amplification process.

Question 18

If the maximum output of an aid is at 2000 Hz and is 120 dB, with a gain of 50 dB what was
the input?
a) 60 dB
b) 50 dB
c) 70 dB
d) 90 dB
e) they are equal at 1000, 1600 and 2500 Hz

Answer 18

c) 70 dB

Again, straight mathematics. It will help if you draw a simple vertical line to measure the gain and input.
The kicker in this question is that 2000 Hz doesn’t matter. It is irrelevant and extraneous.

Question 19

The component which gives the patient direct control of the amplification is:

a) Trim pot
b) program button
c) Volume control
d) Receiver
e) Potentiometer

Answer 19

c) Volume control

Question 20

The event which lead to electrical hearing aids was:

a) Transistor development
b) Vacuum tube development
c) Carbon-telephone development
d) Battery development
e) IC development

Answer 20

d) Battery development

The answer is batteries because they deal with the power source, and it wasn’t until batteries
became small and light that a hearing Aid came into its own.

Question 21

Your client purchased two hearing aids 6 months ago from another Hearing Aid Dispenser.
The client is not satisfied with the hearing aids performance and does not want to return
to that Dispenser. You should ____ ?
a) Encourage him to go back to the original specialist anyway
b) Return the hearing aids as soon as possible
c) Re-test and evaluate the fitting
d) Re-test and fit with other hearing aids.

Answer 21

c) Re-test and evaluate the fitting

This is a tricky one, and you might want to look into what your state recommends. The key here, however, is probably the time.
One month and you might send him back to his first Hearing Aid Dispenser. But when do you scoop him in? Tough question.
Another key is his wishes. He doesn’t want to go back.
No tried and true answer here, merely a little thought concerning the situation.

Question 22

The primary functions of the outer, middle and inner ear include…

a) Equilibrium
b) Hearing
c) Auditory processing
d) a and b
e) b and c

Answer 22

d) a and b

So what, exactly, is auditory processing? Google it and you’ll find a lot of disorders. I’m sure it refers to some part of the hearing process, but it implies a function, as opposed to just the transmission of sound through the ear.
So, because this term was ambiguous, it gets tossed out. Process of elimination.

Question 23

When sound consists of only one frequency it is called?

a) Noise
b) Puretone
c) Tone
d) Rarefaction

Answer 23

b) Puretone