Task 7 - Good vibrations...

Question 1

Sound

Answer 1

physical definition: sound is pressure changes in the air or other medium
Perceptual definition: sound in the experience we have when we hear

Question 2

Condensation

Answer 2

pushing air molecules together (what a speaker does to its surrounding air) which causes a slight increase in the density of molecules near the diaphragm

Question 3

Rarefaction

Answer 3

When the speaker diaphragm moves back in, air molecules spread out to fill in the increased space

Question 4

Pure tone

Answer 4

occurs when pressure changes in the air occur in a pattern described by a mathematical function called a sine wave

Question 5

Amplitude

Answer 5

the size of the pressure change

Question 6

Frequency

Answer 6

the number of times per second that the pressure changes repeat

Question 7

Decibel

Answer 7

(which converts the large range of sound pressure into a more manageable scale)

Question 8

Fundamental frequency

Answer 8

the repetition rate of a complex tone

Question 9

Loudness

Answer 9

the quality most closely related to the amplitude or sound pressure, which is also called the level of an auditory stimulus

Question 10

Pitch

Answer 10

the perceptual quality we describe as “high” or “low” is defined as the attribute of auditory sensation in terms of which sounds may be ordered on a musical scale

Question 11

Tone height

Answer 11

the perceptual experience of increasing pitch that accompanies increases in a tone’s fundamental frequency

Question 12

Tone chroma

Answer 12

the letters of the notes A, B, C, D, E, F, and G (on a piano) repeat, and we notice that notes with the same letter sound similar. Because of this similarity, we say that notes with the same letter have the same tone chroma

Question 13

Effect of the missing fundamental

Answer 13

The constancy of pitch, even when the fundamental or other harmonics are removed

Question 14

Periodicity pitch

Answer 14

the pitch that we perceive in tones, and that has had harmonics removed

Question 15

Range of hearing

Answer 15

we hear sound only within a specific range of frequencies

Question 16

Audibility curve

Answer 16

indicates the threshold for hearing determined by free-field presentation (listening to a loudspeaker) versus frequency

Question 17

Equal loudness curve

Answer 17

These curves indicate the number of decibels that create the same perception of loudness at different frequencies

Question 18

Timber

Answer 18

the quality that distinguishes between two tones that have the same loudness, pitch, and duration, but still sound different

Question 19

attack

Answer 19

the buildup of sound at the beginning of the tone

Question 20

Decay

Answer 20

the decrease in sound at the end of the tone

Question 21

Pinnae

Answer 21

the structures that stick out from the sides of the head (what we refer to when we talk about ears in a normal convo)

Question 22

auditory canal

Answer 22

a tubelike structure about 3 cm long in adults that protects the delicate structures of the middle ear from the hazards of the outside world

Question 23

Resonance

Answer 23

occurs in the auditory canal when sound waves that are reflected back from the closed end of the auditory canal interact with sound waves that are entering the canal – reinforces the frequency – meaning the pressure is also reinforced

Question 24

Middle ear

Answer 24

a small cavity, about 2 cubic centimeters in volume, which separates the outer and inner ears

Question 25

Ossicles

Answer 25

the three smallest ones in the body

Question 26

Ossicles

Answer 26

Malleus - aka hammer. It is set into vibration by the tympanic membrane, to which it is attached, and transmits its vibrations to the incus (or anvil), which, in turn, transmits its vibrations to the stapes (or stirrup). The stapes then transmits its vibrations to the inner ear by pushing on the membrane covering the oval window

Question 27

Basilar membrane

Answer 27

supports the organ of Corti and vibrates in response to sound

Question 28

Tectorial membrane

Answer 28

which extends over the hair cells

Question 29

Place theory of hearing

Answer 29

the frequency of a sound is indicated by the place along the cochlea at which nerve firing is highest – low frequencies cause maximum activity in the hair cells and auditory nerve fibers at the apex end of the basilar membrane, and high frequencies cause maximum activity in hair cells and auditory nerve fibers at the base of the membrane

Question 30

Envelope of traveling wave

Answer 30

it has two important properties has a peak amplitude at one point on the basilar membrane
The position of this peak on the basilar membrane is a function of the frequency of the sound

Question 31

Auditory masking

Answer 31

occurs in everyday experience any time your ability to hear a sound is decreased by the presence of other sounds

Question 32

Cochlear amplifier

Answer 32

the action of the outer hair cells

Question 33

Phase locking

Answer 33

the property of firing at the same place in the sound stimuli – pure tone - nerve fibre fire together when the pressure increases or decreases - auditory nerve fibres fire in synchrony with rising and falling pressure of pure tone

Question 34

Temporal coding

Answer 34

The connection between the frequency of a sound stimulus and the timing of the auditory nerve fiber firing

Question 35

Hearing loss can occur for a number of reasons

Answer 35

(1) blockage of sound from reaching the receptors, called conductive hearing loss;
(2) damage to the hair cells, and
(3) damage to the auditory nerve or the brain. Hearing loss due to damage to the hair cells, auditory nerve, or brain is called sensorineural hearing loss

Question 36

Presbycusis

Answer 36

The most common form of sensorineural hearing loss, which means “old hearing

Question 37

Noise-induced hearing loss

Answer 37

occurs when loud noises cause degeneration of the hair cells

Question 38

Leisure noise

Answer 38

what one exposes oneself to when turning up the volume of music, or being at sports games, or working with power tools, etc.

Question 39

Cochlear implant

Answer 39

in which electrodes are inserted in the cochlea to create hearing by electrically stimulating the cell bodies of auditory nerve fibers that are distributed along the length of the cochlea