Module 1.6c

Question 1

Audition

Answer 1

The sense or act of hearing.

Question 2

Frequency

Answer 2

The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second).

Question 3

Pitch

Answer 3

A tone’s experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency.

Question 4

Middle Ear

Answer 4

The chamber between the eardrum and the cochlea containing three tiny bones that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window.

Question 5

Cochlea

Answer 5

A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses.

Question 6

Inner Ear

Answer 6

The innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs.

Question 7

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Answer 7

The most common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerve; also called nerve deafness.

Question 8

Conduction Hearing Loss

Answer 8

A less common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea.

Question 9

Cochlear Implant

Answer 9

A device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea.

Question 10

Place Theory

Answer 10

In hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated. (Also called place coding)

Question 11

Frequency Theory

Answer 11

In hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch. (Also called temporal coding).