Anatomy Test 1

A vocabulary-focused study set covering acoustic measurements, wave properties, filters, and auditory anatomy based on lecture modules.

Phase

The exact position of a point within one wave cycle, measured in degrees ($^\circ$) or radians.

$$360^\circ$$

A measurement equal to $2\pi\text{ radians}$, representing one complete wave cycle.

Phase Difference

A measurement describing how much one sound wave leads or lags behind another, often determined by time or distance differences.

Constructive Interference

The phenomenon where sound waves reinforce each other when they are aligned.

Destructive Interference

The phenomenon where sound waves cancel each other out when they are completely opposite ($180^\circ$ apart).

Amplitude

The maximum displacement of a wave from its equilibrium, representing pressure, particle displacement, or particle velocity.

RMS (Root Mean Square)

A measurement that gives the average effective amplitude; it better reflects sound energy and perceived loudness than peak amplitude.

Diffraction

The bending or spreading of sound around an obstacle or through an opening, which depends entirely on wavelength.

Head Shadow Effect

A phenomenon occurring above a cutoff frequency of $1800\,Hz$ where sound wavelengths are too small to bend well around the head.

Time Domain

A graphic representation that shows Amplitude vs. Time, useful for viewing waveforms and timing.

Frequency Domain (Spectrum)

A graphic representation that shows Amplitude vs. Frequency, displaying the intensity of various frequency components.

Spectrogram

A display that simultaneously shows frequency, time, and intensity, commonly used for speech analysis.

FFT (Fast Fourier Transform)

A computer method used in audiology to convert a signal from the time domain into a frequency domain representation.

Passband

The specific range of frequencies that a filter allows to pass through.

Stopband

The range of frequencies that a filter blocks.

Bandwidth

The range of frequencies passed by a filter, calculated as the difference between the upper and lower $3\text{-dB}$ down (half-power) points.

Rejection Slope

A measurement in dB/octave that describes how aggressively a filter decreases sound intensity after the cutoff frequency.

Low-cut (High-pass) Filter

A filter type that removes low frequencies and passes high frequencies.

Spectral Splatter

A reduction in sound purity, often causing popping, caused by the sudden onset or offset of a signal.

Sagittal Plane

An anatomical plane that divides the body or an organ into left and right sections.

Coronal (Frontal) Plane

An anatomical plane that divides the body or an organ into front and back sections.

External Auditory Canal

A canal approximately $2.5\,cm$ long consisting of a cartilaginous outer third and a bony inner two-thirds that amplifies speech frequencies between $2\text{--}4\,kHz$.

Right Anterior Inferior (AI) Quadrant

The preferred location for myringotomy tubes because it avoids important middle-ear structures.

Interaural time differences (ITD)

One of the primary cues used for sound localization to determine direction and distance.