Outer/Middle Ear
This part of the outer ear is the visible “flap” that helps collect sound waves
What is the Pinna?
These sensory receptors in the organ of Corti convert vibration into nerve signals.
What are hair cells?
The physical measure of Sound Energy
What is SPL?
The psychoacoustic unit that describes perceived loudness level relative to a 1 kHz tone.
What is phon?
This principle explains how complex speech sounds can be modeled as the sum of simpler components (like sinusoids or harmonics), meaning the combined waveform is just the addition of the individual waveforms.
What is the superposition principle?
This thin membrane vibrates when sound waves hit it.
What is the Tympanic Membrane?
This protective middle-ear response tightens the stapedius muscle in reaction to loud sounds, reducing how much vibration reaches the inner ear.
What is the acoustic (stapedial) reflex?
The place along the cochlea where different frequencies peak is explained by this principle.
What is the Place Theory?
The psychoacoustic unit where doubling the value corresponds roughly to “twice as loud.”
What is a Sone?
This auditory phenomenon occurs when you perceive a pitch at the fundamental frequency even when that lowest harmonic is absent from the sound spectrum, because the harmonics’ spacing still implies it.
These three tiny bones of the middle ear are collectively called this.
What are the Ossicles?
The membrane-covered opening between the middle ear and the inner ear (cochlea).
What is the Oval Window?
The theory that explains pitch perception by timing patterns of nerve firing.
What is the Temporal theory?
The perceptual response of SPL.
What is loudness?
In a longitudinal sound wave, these alternating regions of higher and lower air pressure move outward from the source—creating the pressure pattern your ear detects.
What is Compression and Rarefaction?
The smallest ossicle that connects to the oval window is this.
What is the Stapes?
These three looped inner-ear structures detect rotational (angular) head movements to help maintain balance
What are the Semicircular canals?
This phenomenon describes your ability to focus on one talker’s voice in a noisy room—like picking out a friend’s conversation at a party—even while other voices are present.
What is the Cocktail Party Effect?
An increase of about 10 phons is perceived as about this change in sones.
What is doubling (twice as loud)?
This type of distortion happens when speech is recorded too loudly for the system’s maximum input level, causing the waveform peaks to “flatten” and producing harsh-sounding audio with added high-frequency components.
What is Peak Clipping?
This middle-ear tube connects to the nasopharynx and equalizes air pressure on both sides of the eardrum.
What is the Eustachian (auditory/pharyngotympanic) tube?
This inner-ear structure is responsible for hearing and is shaped like a snail shell.
What is the Cochlea?
Very high frequencies require ______SPL to reach the auditory threshold than mid-range frequencies
What is higher?
A sound’s perceived pitch mostly depends on this physical property.
What is Frequency?
In digital speech recording, this rate (measured in Hz) tells how many times per second the microphone signal is measured, and it must be at least twice the highest frequency you want to capture to avoid aliasing.
What is Sampling Frequency?
The narrow passageway in the apex of the cochlea that allows the scala vestibuli and scala tympani to communicate.
What is the Helicotrema?
This term describes how the auditory system is “mapped” by frequency—high frequencies are represented at the base of the cochlea and low frequencies toward the apex, with neighboring frequencies activating neighboring places.
What is tonotopic organization?
In the cochlea, this term refers to the specific frequency a particular location (or auditory nerve fiber) responds to most strongly, reflecting the tonotopic organization of the basilar membrane.
What is Characteristic Frequency?
This is the approximate resonant frequency of the average adult ear canal (outer-ear resonance), which provides a sensitivity “boost” important for speech perception.
What is 1000-3000 Hz?
This problem occurs when sound tries to pass from a low-impedance medium like air into a high-impedance medium like cochlear fluid, causing much of the energy to reflect unless the middle ear compensates.
What is Impedance mismatch?