Sound and

Hearing
 The Hearing Mechanism
Three parts of the ear:
• Outer Ear- just the ear canal, which terminates
at the eardrum (tympanum).
• Middle Ear- contains three small bones called
hammer, anvil, and stirrup (malleus, incus,
and stapes).
• Inner Ear- contains the cochlea, the organ that
converts sound waves into nerve signals to
the brain.
Cochlea- has three fluid-filled chambers that
run its entire length; sound enters one of
them through the oval window and follows
the path.

Cochlear Duct- central chamber and

contains the sound sensing structures of the
ear.
Georg Von Besekey- (1900-1970) a
communication engineer who became
interested in the hearing mechanism, did
much to show that various parts of the
cochlea are stimulated by various
frequencies.
 Sound Perception
• Perception- is awareness through the senses.
 The Perception of Single and
Multiple frequencies
• Pitch- is the perception of frequency.
 The Perception of Intensity
• Loudness- is the perception of intensity, a well
defined physically measurable quantity.

• Threshold for normal hearing- defined as 0 dB

at 1000Hz.

• Phon- unit that has been developed for

loudness.
 Sound-Level Measurements and
Environmental Noise
• Decibel Meters- sound-level
meters, are designed to
measure sound levels as
humans would respond to
them; their output is
representative of loudness
rather than intensity.

• Three internationally accepted

weightings given to sound in
sound level measurements.
• The A, B and C weightings.
• The A weighting is most useful for measuring
sound in the hospitals, offices and classrooms,
where low frequency sounds are nearly
inaudible and needn’t be of concern.
• The B and C weightings are more
representative of the response of the ear to
modulate and high intensities, with the C
weightings being nearly equal at all
frequencies.
 Three Aspects to Noise
Reduction

• distance from a source

• attenuation by absorption
• reduction of sound output from the source.
 Hearing Loss and Correction
• There are two basic types of hearing loss:
• Conductive hearing loss- it caused by defects in
the structures that conduct sound to the inner
ear.
• Neural hearing loss- (sensorineural), for sensory
and neural. Neural hearing loss results damage
to the cochlea or neurons that send information
to the brain.
 Hearing Tests
• Audiogram- a graph of the results of a hearing
test.
• It can be difficult to tell which ear is responding
and whether the sound is carried by bone or
air. Most of these difficulties are overcome by
careful and consistent technique and by putting
noise into the ear that is not being tested
(called MASKING).
• Presbycusis- “elder hearing” typical
hearing loss caused by aging.