SPPA 206: The Auditory System
Study Guide for Exam 3
Hearing Disorders and Auditory Perception
Notes: As always, this study guide is intended to give you a general idea of some of the kinds of
questions that might appear on the exam, and to help you organize your studying. It is not intended
to cover all of the topics that might be appear on the exam. However, some of the exam questions
may be taken almost verbatim from the study guide. In addition to the kinds of questions that are
shown below, there may also be multiple choice questions, matching items, and diagrams that you
would be asked to label. This study guide will cover only the new material since exam 2. The final
exam will be comprehensive, with more emphasis on the new material. Be sure to look over your
study guides from the first two exams.
1. List and briefly describe two disorders of the external ear.
2. What is a cholesteatoma?
3. What is otosclerosis? What is a common treatment for this disease?
4. What frequencies are most affected by noise-induced hearing loss? How does the audiometric
configuration for noise-induced hearing loss change as the disorder progresses?
5. List and briefly describe three causes of conductive hearing loss.
6. List and briefly describe three causes of sensorineural hearing loss.
7. Certain drugs are known to be ototoxic. Why would these drugs ever be administered?
8. Give a detailed, step-by-step description of the disease process that is involved in serous otitis
media?
9. What is the difference between suppurative (purulent) and non-suppurative otitis media? What
is the difference between serous and mucoid otitis media?
10. How are acute, chronic, and recurrent otitis media different?
11. What is the most common treatment for otitis media? Name at least one alternative to this
treatment. Under what conditions would this alternative treatment be used?
12. Why is it so important that otitis media be treated, especially in children?
13. What kinds of phenomena are studied in psychophysics?
14. What is the distinction between physical and psychological dimensions? Give an example of a
perceptual dimension and a physical parameter that controls that dimension.
15. Describe two rules that control the relationship between frequency and pitch?
16. Describe three rules that control the relationship between intensity and loudness?
17. What is timbre? What acoustic parameter(s) control timbre? Draw the spectra of two sounds
that would have the same pitch but different timbres.
18. Draw time-domain representations of two sounds that would have the same fundamental
frequency but different amplitude envelopes.
19. List and briefly explain two cues that are used by the auditory system to localize sound. What
does it mean to say that these cues are "integrated" by the auditory system?
20. What is the "head shadow" effect, and what does this have to do with localization?
21. What is the distinction between bone conduction and air conduction? How can bone conduction
thresholds be used to diagnose hearing disorders?
22. What kind of listening experiment was used to produce: (a) the mel scale, (b) the sone scale, (c)
the phon scale?
23. A click is presented over earphones to the right ear slightly earlier than the left ear. Where will
the sound appear to be coming from? What two changes could the experimenter make in order
to "move" the sound back to midline?
Terms for Exam 3
Note: Items that are separated by slashes are alternate names for the same structure.
atresia
external otitis
cholesteatoma/keratoma
otosclerosis
otitis media
suppurative
purulent
non-suppurative
serous
secretory
mucous (mucoid) otitis media ("glue ear")
acute
chronic
recurrent
ossicular chain disarticulation
ototoxic
Meniere's disease (endolymphatic hydrops)
presbycusis
acoustic trauma
long-term noise exposure
labyrinthitis
congenital
adventitious
anoxia/asphyxia
Waardenburg Syndrome
Treacher-Collins Syndrome
Klippel-Feil Syndrome
maternal rubella
vertigo
neuroma
central auditory processing disorders
dysacusia
retrocochlear
psychophysics
psychoacoustics
pitch
timber
loudness
spectrum envelope
amplitude envelope
localization
interaural intensity difference
head shadow
interaural time difference
mel scale
sone scale
phon scale
bone conduction