Hearing Hearing The threshold of hearing is the Sound pressure level SPL of 20 µPa (micropascals) = 2 × 10-5 pascal (Pa). This low threshold of amplitude (strength or sound pressure level) is frequency dependent. See the frequency curve in Fig. 2. ...more on Wikipedia about "Absolute threshold of hearing"
Active listening is a way of " listening for meaning" in which the listener checks with the speaker to see that a statement has been correctly heard and understood. The goal of active listening is to improve mutual understanding. ...more on Wikipedia about "Active listening"
An Audiogram is a graphical representation of how well a certain person can perceive different sound frequencies. Most commonly, the frequency is laid out on an logarithmic scale. An audiogram is a normalised conversion of hearing thresholds from dBSPL to dBHL, where dB is decibel, SPL is sound pressure level and HL is hearing level. Audiograms are set out with a frequency scale on the horizontal axis in Hz, and a dBHL scale on the vertical axis. Normal hearing is classified as being between -10dBHL and 15dBHL, although 0dB from 250Hz to 8kHz is deemed to be 'average' normal hearing. ...more on Wikipedia about "Audiogram"
An Audiometer is a machine used for testing hearing. The invention of this machine is generally credited to Dr. Harvey Fletcher of Brigham Young University. Audiometers are standard equipment at ENT clinics and in audiology centers. ...more on Wikipedia about "Audiometer"
Audiometry is the testing of hearing ability. Typically, audiometric tests determine a subject's hearing levels, but may also measure ability to discriminate between different sound intensities, recognize pitch, or distinguish speech from background noise. Acoustic reflex and otoacoustic emissions may also be measured. Results of audiometric tests are used to diagnose hearing loss or diseases of the ear. ...more on Wikipedia about "Audiometry"
Auditory brain centers process raw sound and make sense of it. Access to the auditory brain center is through the ear. The ear can be thought of as an input device for the brain, much as a keyboard is an input device for a computer. The process of making sense of sound waves is what is generally meant by "hearing".
==Further Reading==
Further reading on auditory brain centers and stimulation techniques is available through,
*Robertson, L. (2000)
"Literacy learning for children who are deaf and hard of hearing." ...more on Wikipedia about "Auditory brain center"
In psychology and neuropsychology, auditory imagery is the subjective experience of hearing in the absence of auditory stimulation. It occurs when one mentally rehearses telephone numbers, or has a song "on the brain": the phenomenon is usually defined to be spontaneous (that is, not under direct conscious control); it can be distressing. Auditory imagery is used by neuropsychologists for investigating aspects of human cognition. ...more on Wikipedia about "Auditory imagery"
The Bark scale is a psychoacoustical scale. ...more on Wikipedia about "Bark scale"
A combination tone, also called a sum tone or a difference tone, can be any of at least three similar psychoacoustic phenomena. When two tones are played simultaneously, a listener can sometimes perceive an additional tone whose frequency is a sum or difference of the two frequencies. The discovery of one of these phenomena is credited to the violinist Giuseppe Tartini, and so the tones are also called Tartini tones. ...more on Wikipedia about "Combination tone"
Critical bands are frequency ranges in which one pitch will mask another pitch. Critical bands occur because a wave striking the basilar membrane disturbs the membrane over a small area beyond the point the wave strikes, exciting the nerve endings over that entire area. Thus, frequencies close to the original frequency do not affect the sensation of the loudness of the sound much, even if the intensity of the sound is thereby doubled. ...more on Wikipedia about "Critical bands"
An equal-loudness contour is a measure of sound pressure ( dB SPL) vs. frequency for which a listener perceives a constant loudness. The unit of measurement for loudness levels is the phon, and by definition two sine waves that have equal phons are equally loud. ...more on Wikipedia about "Equal-loudness contour"
The Fletcher–Munson curves are one of many sets of equal-loudness contours for the human ear, determined experimentally by H Fletcher and W A Munson, and reported in a paper entitled "Loudness, its definition, measurement and calculation" in J.Acoust. Soc Am.5, 82-108 (1933). ...more on Wikipedia about "Fletcher–Munson curves"
A golden ear is a term in audio circles referring to a person who posesses above standard perception of hearing. Many audio experts claim to have golden ears, however many tests have shown that many so called golden ears were unable to detect a reversal of stereo image in a blind test. ...more on Wikipedia about "Golden ear"
Hearing, or audition, is one of the traditional five senses, and refers to the ability to detect sound. ...more on Wikipedia about "Hearing (sense)"
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The high frequency limit of hearing is the upper extent to which a particular animal can perceive sound. ...more on Wikipedia about "High frequency limit"
Infrasound is sound with a frequency too low to be detected by the human ear. The study of such sound waves is sometimes referred to as infrasonics, covering sounds from the lower limit of human hearing (about 16 or 17 hertz) down to 0.001 hertz. This frequency range is the same one that seismographs use for monitoring earthquakes. Infrasound is characterized by an ability to cover long distances and get around obstacles with little dissipation. ...more on Wikipedia about "Infrasound"
The mel scale, proposed by Stevens, Volkman and Newman in 1937 is a perceptual scale of pitches judged by listeners to be equal in distance from one another. The reference point between this scale and normal frequency measurement is defined by equating a 1000 Hz tone, 40 dB above the listener's threshold, with a pitch of 1000 mels. Above about 500 Hz, larger and larger intervals are judged by listeners to produce equal pitch increments. As a result, four octaves on the hertz scale above 500 Hz are judged to comprise about two octaves on the mel scale. ...more on Wikipedia about "Mel scale"
: Phon is also the name of a town in Thailand. ...more on Wikipedia about "Phon"
Place theory is a theory of hearing which states that our perception of sound depends on where each component frequency produces vibrations along the basilar membrane. Therefore, the pitch of a pure tone would be determined by where the membrane vibrates. In technical terms, it states that frequency is encoded according to the tonotopic organization of the neurons. It was first discovered by Helmholtz. Place theory competes with the rate theory of hearing, which instead states that pitch is signaled by the rate at which the neurons fire. ...more on Wikipedia about "Place theory"
Psychoacoustics is the study of subjective human perception of sounds. Effectively, it is the study of psychology of acoustical perception. ...more on Wikipedia about "Psychoacoustics"
Rate theory is a theory of hearing which states that our perception of sound depends on the rate at which neurons signal the frequency of each component. Therefore, the pitch of a pure tone would be determined by the rate at which a neuron fired. It was first suggested by A. Seebeck. Rate theory competes with the place theory of hearing, which instead states that pitch is signaled by the location of the firing neurons along the basilar membrane. ...more on Wikipedia about "Rate theory"
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The Robinson-Dadson curves are one of many sets of equal-loudness contours for the human ear, determined experimentally by D W Robinson and R S Dadson, and reported in a paper entitled "A re-determination of the equal-loudness relations for pure tones" in Br. J. Appl. Phys. 7, 166-181 (1956). ...more on Wikipedia about "Robinson-Dadson curves"
The sone is a unit of perceived loudness after a proposal of S. Smith Stevens in 1936. In acoustics, loudness is a subjective measure of the sound pressure. One sone is equivalent to 40 phons, which is defined as the loudness of a 1 kHz tone at 40 dB SPL. The number of sones to a phon was chosen so that a doubling of the number of sones sounds to the human ear like a doubling of the loudness, which also corresponds to increasing the sound pressure level by 10 dB, or increasing the sound pressure by a factor 3.16 (=). At frequencies other than 1 kHz, the measurement in sones must be calibrated according to the frequency response of human hearing, which is of course a subjective process. The study of apparent loudness is included in the topic of psychoacoustics. ...more on Wikipedia about "Sone"
Sound is the vibration of matter, as perceived by the sense of hearing. We usually hear vibrations that travel through air, but sound can also travel through gases, liquids and solids. It cannot travel through a vacuum (such as exists in outer space). When the vibrations reach our ears, they are converted into nerve impulses that are sent to our brains, allowing us to perceive the sound. ...more on Wikipedia about "Sound"
Ultrasound is sound with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing, approximately 20 kilohertz/20,000 hertz. Some animals, such as dogs, dolphins, bats, and mice have an upper limit that is greater than that of the human ear and thus can hear ultrasound. ...more on Wikipedia about "Ultrasound"
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