Acoustics/Audiology
Compared to voiced stops, word-initial voiceless stops in English are expected to have a:
A. Shorter voice onset time (VOT)
B. Longer VOT
C. More compact spectrum
D. More diffuse spectrum
B. Longer VOT
A patient presents with a Type B tympanogram, absent OAEs, and elevated air conduction thresholds with normal bone conduction thresholds. What is the hearing loss?
a. Conductive hearing loss
b. Sensorineural hearing loss
c. Mixed hearing loss
a. Conductive hearing loss
Which of the following procedures is used to assess middle-ear pressure by measuring the mobility of the tympanic membrane in response to changes in positive and negative pressure within the external ear canal?
A. Otoacoustic emissions (OAE) testing
B. Tympanometry
C. Pure-tone audiometry
D. Auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing
B. Tympanometry
A speech-language pathologist is reviewing an audiology report for a child who has a tympanic membrane perforation. The SLP understands that a perforation of the tympanic membrane most commonly results from which of the following?
A. Injury to the ear or middle-ear infection causing a hole in the eardrum
B. Excessive cerumen accumulation blocking the external auditory canal
C. Degeneration of cochlear hair cells following prolonged noise exposure
D. Malformation of the ossicular chain present since birth
A. Injury to the ear or middle-ear infection causing a hole in the eardrum
A speech-language pathologist is reviewing an audiogram in a patient's medical chart. To interpret the unmasked air-conduction thresholds for the right ear, the clinician should look for which of the following symbols?
A) Red O
B) Blue X
C) <
D) >
A. O (typically in red) is the standard audiometric symbol for unmasked air conduction in the right ear.
A person with hearing loss has complained that listening to conversational partners in noisy restaurants is very difficult. However, they still enjoy going out to eat with family and friends, regardless of this difficulty. Which level of the World Health Organization (WHO) International Classification of Functioning (ICF) BEST describes this person's hearing problem?
A. Activity limitation
B. Impairment
C. Participation restriction
D. Behavioral limitation
A. Activity limitation
A patient presents for a comprehensive audiological evaluation. Diagnostic findings reveal normal middle ear function on tympanometry, absent ipsilateral and contralateral acoustic reflexes, robust outer hair cell function via present otoacoustic emissions (OAEs), severely reduced speech recognition, and disproportionately poor speech perception in noise relative to pure-tone thresholds. These results are most indicative of which diagnosis?
a. Meniere's Disease
b. Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder
c. Presbycusis
d. Otoclerosis
b. Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder
A speech-language pathologist is reviewing the results of a tympanometric evaluation. Which of the following measures is typically obtained from a tympanogram?
A. Speech recognition threshold, word recognition score, and masking level
B. Ear canal volume, maximum peak pressure, and peak compliance
C. Air-conduction thresholds, bone-conduction thresholds, and loudness discomfort levels
D. Otoacoustic emission amplitude, signal-to-noise ratio, and response latency
B. Ear canal volume, maximum peak pressure, and peak compliance
A speech-language pathologist is reviewing an audiological report for a child whose average hearing threshold is 48 dB HL. The SLP should classify this hearing loss as:
A. Mild hearing loss
B. Moderate hearing loss
C. Moderately severe hearing loss
D. Severe hearing loss
B. Moderate hearing loss
A hearing threshold between 41 and 55 dB HL is classified as moderate hearing loss.
During a pure-tone audiometric evaluation, an audiologist presents a series of tones at varying intensity levels to determine a patient's sensitivity for a specific frequency. The lowest signal intensity at which the patient detects the tone at least 50% of the time is referred to as the:
A) Sensation level
B) Hearing threshold
C) Most comfortable loudness level
D) Speech detection threshold
B) Hearing threshold
The SLP wants to use acoustic measurements of /r/ to document a child's progress in producing the sound. the BEST measurement to make is the amount of movement in:
A. F0
B. F1
C. F2
D. F3
D. F3
A speech-language pathologist reviews an audiogram for an adult patient. The pure-tone results reveal elevated air-conduction thresholds, elevated bone-conduction thresholds, and an air-bone gap of 25 dB HL across multiple frequencies. How should the clinician classify this type of hearing loss?
a. conductive hearing loss
b. sensorineural hearing loss
c. central auditory processing disorder
d. mixed hearing loss
d. mixed hearing loss
An audiologist is evaluating a patient with hearing loss and orders immittance testing as part of the diagnostic battery. Which of the following is a primary purpose of immittance testing?
A. To determine pure-tone hearing thresholds across frequencies
B. To assess middle-ear status, evaluate acoustic reflexes, and help differentiate cochlear from retrocochlear disorders
C. To measure speech perception in quiet and noise
D. To directly assess outer hair cell function in the cochlea
B. To assess middle-ear status, evaluate acoustic reflexes, and help differentiate cochlear from retrocochlear disorders
A speech-language pathologist is reviewing the results of an audiologic assessment for a toddler who could not reliably participate in behavioral hearing testing. The audiologist recommends an auditory brainstem response (ABR) evaluation. Which of the following statements best describes the ABR?
A. It measures middle-ear mobility by varying air pressure and recording tympanic membrane movement.
B. It records neural activity within the first 10 milliseconds following an auditory stimulus and provides information about cochlear and auditory pathway function.
C. It measures outer hair cell activity in response to sound and is primarily used to evaluate middle-ear disorders.
D. It evaluates speech recognition ability by analyzing responses to recorded words presented at different intensity levels.
B. It records neural activity within the first 10 milliseconds following an auditory stimulus and provides information about cochlear and auditory pathway function.
A speech-language pathologist is reviewing a pure-tone audiogram during an interprofessional intake evaluation. To identify the unmasked air-conduction thresholds for the left ear, the clinician should locate which of the following standard audiometric symbols?
A) Red O
B) Blue X
C) <
D) >
B) Blue X
X (typically depicted in blue) is the standard clinical symbol for unmasked air conduction in the left ear.
American Sign Language (ASL) is a visual-spatial language used by persons who are deaf/Deaf in the United States and has several unique characteristics. Which of the following statements BEST describes ASL?
A. ASL is completely dependent on hand movements only
B. ASL is dependent on direction, but not speed, of movement
C. ASL utilizes facial expression to mark idioms
D. ASL utilizes its own grammar and syntax
D. ASL utilizes its own grammar and syntax
A 5-year-old child is evaluated following a routine school hearing screening. Audiometric evaluation reveals air-conduction and bone-conduction thresholds between 45 and 55 dB HL bilaterally across all tested frequencies, with no air-bone gaps. Tympanometry yields normal Type A tympanograms bilaterally. Which of the following is the most appropriate next step for the speech-language pathologist regarding clinical management and academic accommodations?
a. recommend amplification and educational accommodation for moderate bilateral sensorineural hearing loss.
b. recommend medical evaluation for bilateral otitis media with effusion.
c. monitor hearing thresholds annually without intervention, as this level of loss does not impact speech perception.
d. refer for immediate surgical intervention to repair bilateral ossicular chain disruption.
a. recommend amplification and educational accommodation for moderate bilateral sensorineural hearing loss.
A speech-language pathologist is reviewing an audiology report for a child with suspected hearing difficulties. The report indicates that acoustic immittance testing was completed. Which of the following statements best describes acoustic immittance testing?
A. It measures cochlear function through recordings of inner ear responses to acoustic stimulation.
B. It measures hearing sensitivity through behavioral responses to tones presented at various frequencies.
C. It measures middle-ear function at the tympanic membrane using tympanometry and acoustic reflex testing.
D. It measures neural activity within the auditory pathway using electrophysiologic response recordings.
C. It measures middle-ear function at the tympanic membrane using tympanometry and acoustic reflex testing.
A speech-language pathologist is evaluating two school-age children with hearing loss. Child A consistently speaks with reduced vocal intensity, particularly in noisy environments. Child B speaks with excessive loudness and demonstrates articulation and voice abnormalities. Which of the following explanations best accounts for these differences?
A. Children with conductive hearing loss often speak softly because they hear their own voice well, whereas children with sensorineural hearing loss may speak more loudly because they have difficulty monitoring their own speech.
B. Children with conductive hearing loss often speak loudly because they cannot hear environmental sounds, whereas children with sensorineural hearing loss typically speak softly because they hear their own voice clearly.
C. Children with conductive hearing loss and sensorineural hearing loss typically demonstrate similar vocal loudness because hearing loss does not affect speech monitoring.
D. Children with conductive hearing loss and sensorineural hearing loss both tend to speak softly because reduced auditory input lowers vocal intensity.
A. Children with conductive hearing loss often speak softly because they hear their own voice well, whereas children with sensorineural hearing loss may speak more loudly because they have difficulty monitoring their own speech.
A 6-year-old child with a history of recurrent otitis media is referred to an SLP for a speech-language evaluation. The audiological report includes air-conduction thresholds ranging from 35 to 45 dB HL bilaterally and bone-conduction thresholds ranging from 5 to 10 dB HL bilaterally across all frequencies. Tympanometry reveals bilateral Type B tympanograms with normal ear canal volume. Which type of hearing loss does this audiometric profile describe, and what is the most appropriate initial management step?
a. bilateral central auditory processing disorder; recommend FM system
b. bilateral conductive hearing loss; refer for medical evaluation
c. bilateral mixed hearing loss; initiate speech therapy
d. bilateral sensorineural hearing loss; recommend hearing aids
b. bilateral conductive hearing loss; refer for medical evaluation
The presence of elevevated air-conduction thresholds alongside normal bone-conduction thresholds creates an aire-bone gap greater than 10db HL, indicating a conductive hearing loss. In combination with Type B tympanograms (flat compliance with normal volume, indicating flued in the middle ear), medical referral to an otolaryngologist or pediatrician is the essential primary step.
In examining a spectrogram of the phrase Say sheep produced by a male speaker, you notice that the lower limit of high-amplitude energy noise for both /s/ and /S/ is near 2500 hertz (Hz). This MOST LIKELY indicates that:
A. /s/ is being produced too far back in the mouth
B. /s/ is being produced too far forward in the mouth
C. /S/ is being produced too far back in the mouth
D. /S/ is being produced too far forward in the mouth
A. /s/ is being produced too far back in the mouth
This type of hearing loss is characterized by bone conduction scores being outside the normal range and the air conduction thresholds poorer than bone-conduction thresholds. The air bone gap will be greater than 20dB.
a. conductive hearing loss
b. sensorineural hearing loss
c. mixed hearing loss
c. mixed hearing loss
A speech-language pathologist is reviewing the results of an audiologic evaluation for a school-age child with suspected hearing loss. The report notes absent acoustic reflexes bilaterally. Which of the following best describes the clinical significance of acoustic reflex testing?
A. It measures the contraction of the stapedius muscle in response to loud sounds and can provide information about hearing loss and auditory pathway function.
B. It measures the mobility of the tympanic membrane across pressure changes and can identify middle-ear pressure abnormalities.
C. It measures cochlear outer hair cell responses to sound stimulation and can determine hearing thresholds in young children.
D. It measures electrical activity from the auditory nerve and brainstem and can estimate hearing sensitivity across frequencies.
A. It measures the contraction of the stapedius muscle in response to loud sounds and can provide information about hearing loss and auditory pathway function.
An SLP evaluates an adult client who reports difficulty understanding speech in noise. The audiogram reveals normal air-conduction and bone-conduction thresholds (0–15 dB HL) from 250 Hz through 1000 Hz, precipitously sloping to severe sensorineural hearing loss (70–80 dB HL) at 4000 Hz and 8000 Hz bilaterally. Word Recognition Scores (WRS) in quiet are 92% in the right ear and 88% in the left ear at 40 dB SL. How should the SLP interpret the impact of this specific configuration on the client's speech perception?
a. preserved detection of vowel sounds, but reduced perception of high-frequency voiceless consonants.
b. preserved detection of voiceless fricatives, but reduced perception of low-frequency vowel formants.
c. generalized difficulty detercing voice onset time across all fundamental frequencies.
d. equal impairment across all speech sounds regardless of phonetic classification.
a. preserved detection of vowel sounds, but reduced perception of high-frequency voiceless consonants.