CSD 303 exam 1

absorption

The process where a material absorbs sound energy, converting it into heat and reducing echos and reverberation within space.

amplitude

The magnituded of strength of the vibration

Amount of displacement from a position of rest

On the Y-axis of a waveform

As the amplitude of vibration goes up, the amount of pressure that it exerts on its surrounding also goes up

Aperiodicity

The characteristics of a sound wave that does not have a regular, repeating pattern of vibration.

Audiometric zero

The thresehold of hearing for a normal-hearing individual, representing the softest sound a person can typically detect at a speficif frequency

bandwidth

The frequency range a person can hear, usally measured in Hertz.

clinical audiometer

measures an individual hearing ability by presenting sounds on frequencies and intensities to determine hearing thresholds.

complex sounds

any sound composed of more than one frequency

compression (condensation)

the natural phenomenon the water vapor in air turns into liquid water as the air is compressed and then cools.

cycle

complete repition of sound waves vibratory patterns. The number of cycles that occurs per second determines the sound frequency and consequently, its percived pitch.

damping

the act of reducing or suppressing unwanted vibrations and sound waves within a hearing aid or the ear itself.

decibel

units of measurments for sound intensity or loundness.

elasticity

The physical property of the tympanic membrane and other middle ear structure to stretch and return to their original shape.

fast fourier transform

An effcient algorimthm that transform a singal from the time domain into its frequency domain, revailing its underlying frequency componets.

feedback

the unwanted whistling or squealing sound from a hearing aids that happens when amplified sound escapes the ear canal, reenters the hearing aid microphone and gets reamplified, creating a feedback loop.

fourier analysis

a complex of waveform expressed as a series of sinusoidal functions, the frequencies of which a harmonic searies.

frequency

the rate of sound wave vibrations per second, measured in Hertz and determines the pitch of a sound.

frequency reponse curve

a graph showing how an audio divice, like a speaker or microphone, reproduces or pick up different sound frequenices.

fundamental frequency

the lwoest frequency which is produced by the oscillation of the whole of and object as distinct the harmonics of high frequency.

harmonics

pure tonal components of a sound that occur at integer multiples of its fundemental frequency, which is the lowest and strongest percived pitch

hearing threshold level

the quietest sound an individual can detect at a specific frequency, measured in decibels during a hearing test.

impedance

a measurement of the resistance within the middle ear to the flow of sound energy, impacting the eardrum and ossicles ability to transmit sound to the inner ear.

inertia

The property of mass to resist changes in its state of motion.

J.B fourier

mathematicla techinques for decomposing complex signals into their individuals frequencies, or sine waves.

logarithm

The human perception of sounf loudness and pitch, which follows a logarithimic scale rather than a linear one.

mass

the inertia or resitance to movement of the tiny bones in the middle of the ear.

molecules

function as the la llave sensor, structures, and signaling elements that convert the mechanical energy of sound waves into the electrochemical signals the brain can interpret.

noise

unwated sound

peak amplitude

the maximum positice or negatice deviation of a waveform fron its zero or mean position

peak-to-peak amplitude

the total vertical distance of waveform, calculated as the difference between its highest peak and lowest values.

period

time needed to complete one cycle of repetition.

usually measured in seconds or milliseconds.

inversely related to frequency.

periodicity

the regal, repeating pattern of a sound wave that the brain processes to determine the sensation of pitch.

phase

The precise time relationship or position within a sound wave cycle.

phase inversion

The process of flipping a sound wave by 180 degrees, effectively making it the exact opposite of its orginal shape.

pitch

The subjetive quality that descirbes high or low a sound is percived.

pure tone

a sound with a single, specific frequency

rarefactrion

the region of a sound wave where air particles are spaced further apart, resulting in lower pressure and ensity

relection

occurs when a sound waves bounces off a surface, such as a wall or cliff, and travels back to the listener ear, creating an auditory image or delayed signal.

resistance

The impedance audiometry is used to assess the resiatance that the middle ear structures oppose to the passage of mechanical vibratory energy from air to the liquids present in the cochlea.

resonant frequency

is a frequency at which the part of the ear, practuarly the middle ear structure, vibrate with maximum amplitude when exposed to an external sound.

sinusoidal montion ( simple harmonic motion)

The simplest form of vibration that can take place is the regual back and forth movement.

sound

The energy of mechanical vibrations that travels as a wave, which the ears detects and converts into signals that the brain interprets as audible information.

sound pressure level

measures the intersity of sond waves in decibles, indicating how loud a sound is relative to the quietest sound the human ear can detect.

spectrum

A sound frquency content, repersenting the range of pitches and their relative intensities that make up a sound.

waveform

a visual graph of a sound changing air pressure over time, where ther vertical axis shows the sounds intensity and the horizontal axis represents time.

wavelength

the physical distance of one complete cycle of a sound wave, from one peak to the next.

audiogram

a chart that shows the results of a hearing test

azimuth

The direction of sound in the horzizontal plane, essentially its left-right or front-back location relative to the listeners head.

bone conduction

vibrations travel directly through the bones of the skull to the inner ear, bypassing the outer and middle ear structures

head shadow

A reduction in sound intensity that occurs when the head obstructs sound waves traveling to the ear on the opposite side of the head from the sound source.

Head shadow effect

occurs in individuaks with single sided hearing loss, where the head blocks high frequency sounds from reaching the poorer ear, creating a shadow

incident sound

instant hearing loss casued by a single exeptionally loud sound event, such as a gunshot or explosion

interaural intensity differnces

The differnce in sound intensity or level that reaches each ear.

interaural time differences

the tiny time interval between a sound arriving at one ear and the other

minimum audible fields

the lowest sound intensity a person can detect in a sound field

minimum audible pressure

The sound pressure at the listener eardrum required for a sound to be just bareky audible

reflected sound

occurs when sound waves bounce off a surface, such as walls or objects, rather than being absorbed or transmitted

reverbration

the phenomenon of sound waves reflecting off multiple surfaces in a space, causing the original sound to persist for a time the source has stopped

temporal integration

the auditory system process of combining sound information over time to form a coherent aufitory experince and improve perception

two alternative forced choice procedure

two distinct time intervals and they must identify which intervals contained a target auditory signal