SPH 380 HEARING SCIENCES

AUDITORY
SENSITIVITY I

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About two centuries ago, on this day, Fechner
had the insight that sensation can be measured.
The day has been named in his honor as the
Fechner’s day——Happy Fechner’s day!

1830: Fechner published the first text on

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psychophysics
 ~Today’s Topics ~
Threshold of audibility
Methods for measuring thresholds

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 What is threshold?
SOUND LEVEL (dB SPL)

THRESHOLD
BELOW THRESHOLD
CAN’T HEAR

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 What is threshold?
SOUND LEVEL (dB SPL)

CAN HEAR! ABOVE THRESHOLD

THRESHOLD

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 Thresholds of Audibility
• Thresholds of audibility (absolute
threshold): the lowest SPL needed to
detect the sound.
• Scientists typically measure the SPL in
one of two ways (of placing the
microphone):
– In the space where the listener’s head would
be, but in its absence; called the minimum
audible field (MAF) or
– near the eardrum, called the minimum
audible pressure (MAP).
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 MAP vs MAF

7 7

MINIMUM AUDIBLE PRESSURE MIMINUM AUDIBLE FIELD

TYPICALLY OBTAINED WITH IS MEASURED BY A
EARPHONES. MICROPHONE PLACED IN
THE SOUND FIELD IN THE
ESTIMATES ACTUAL
POSITION WHERE THE
PRESSURE AT TYMPANIC
EAR USE TO BE
MEMBRANE
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 Calibration of Transducers

• Loudness Speaker: free field (MAF);

• Headphones (MAP)
--Supra-aural: 6-cc coupler
--Circum-aural: artificial ear
• Insert phone (MAP): 2-cc coupler, or
a ear simulator
(ALL are used in hearing clinics)
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Things to note about MAP and MAF
1. Best thresholds are in “middle” frequency regions (Why?)
2. Sound field threshold (MAF) is actually below 0 dB SPL for
some frequencies
125 dB
SPL
100 dB

75 dB

50 dB
MAP
25 dB
MAF
0 dB

100 500 1000 5000 10,000 Hz

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3. MAF is lower than MAP, but their difference is a matter of
reference, rather than real sensitivity. MAF is lower, because
when the listener is present, the sound pressure at the ear drum
will be boosted from ear canal resonance, concha resonance,
head baffle and other features of the head and torso

100 dB
SPL
75 dB

50 dB
MAP
25 dB
MAF
0 dB

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100 500 1000 5000 10,000 Hz
Factors affecting the shape of the threshold
curve (frequency dependence)

External and middle ear transfer functions play a role in shaping the
audibility curve.
From Pickles (1988)
 Behavioral vs Neural Threshold

From Pickles (1988)

Hearing Level (dB HL) vs dB SPL
• Threshold curve standardized by ANSI. Sound
level expressed with reference to the standard
threshold curve is defined as dB HL (as in an
audiogram)

• A hearing loss of 25 dB at a particular frequency,

for example, will show up on an audiogram as a
threshold of 25 dB HL at that frequency
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Standardized Absolute Thresholds as reference for
calculating the hearing level (HL)

40 dB SPL
or
15 dB HL

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HL (audiogram) vs SPL Threshold curve
(ANSI standard)
250 1k 2k 4k

25
25 dB
50

75

100

dB
SPL
 Pain & Discomfort Thresholds
PAIN
125 dB
DISCOMFORT
100 dB

75 dB

50 dB
MAP
25 dB
MAF
0 dB

100 500 1000 5000 10,000 Hz

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 Level of Discomfort
and Threshold of Pain
• Level of discomfort: UCL: 100 to 120 dB
SPL

• Threshold of pain: above 120-130 dB SPL

• Dynamic Range (DR) of Hearing:

DR = UCL - Threshold(Hearing) (90 dB at
100 Hz, 120 dB at mid freqs)
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 TEMPORAL
INTEGRATION: Duration Effects
LONGER DURATION,
LOWER THRESHOLD,
UP TO 250 MSEC.

Time-intensity trade:
10 fold change in
duration trade for 10 dB
change in threshold

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Temporal Integration: You can trade signal
power for duration (time-intensity trade)

Temporal window (250-ms)

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 The “Classic” Methods
• Method of Adjustment: Listener controls
stimulus and “adjusts” it until a response
criterion is met
• Method of Limits: Experimenter controls
stimulus and reverses direction of variable
(e.g., intensity) when listener changes
judgment
• Method of Constant Stimuli: Experimenter
preselects several stimuli and presents them
in random order for a listener response.
Proportion of correct response obtained for
each stimulus—Psychometric
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 Method of Adjustment
Pro: Can be useful for estimating the
range to which the listener will respond

Con: Response may be strongly

influenced by listener biases

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 Method of Limits

• Typically used in the clinic to measure

threshold of hearing
• Examiner starts with a tone that is audible and
then reduces the intensity in 10 dB steps until
the patient stops responding
• Examiner reverses direction of intensity
change and increases in 5 dB steps until the
patient responds
• Sequence is repeated 2 more times (descend,
ascend)
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 Example of Method of Limits

50 y
40 y
30 y y
n y y y
y n y n
20
n n n n n
n
n n
10 n
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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Threshold ~ 25 dB 23
 Method of Constant Stimuli: although time
consuming, it generates a psychometric function,
which has more complete info than just threshold

Example
Signal Level (dB SPL)

50
40 y y y y
30 n y y n n y y

20 n n y y n n
10 n n n n
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Trial

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Threshold ~ 25 dB SPL
24
Psychometric Function: Threshold
(defined as SPL @ 50%)

100
80
Percent “yes”

60

40

20

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 dB SPL
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 ~Summary ~
Thresholds
• MAF vs MAP
• Shape of threshold curve
• Behavioral vs neural threshold
• dB HL
• Upper limit of hearing and dynamic range
• Duration effect (temporal integration)

Pros and Cons of the Measurement Methods

• Method of adjustment
• Method of limit (clinic application)
• 10Method
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of constant stimuli
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(psychometric function)
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 Other factors affecting
threshold
• Instructions to listener
• Monaural versus binaural listening
• Location of sound source in a sound
field

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 Instruction Effects

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 One ear or two ears?

2 ears ~ 3 dB
improvement

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 Location of Sound – Same side
(ipsilateral) or opposite side
(contralateral).

Head shadow occurs for sounds that have short

wavelengths
10 October 2010 re: head size. H.Dai
Difference ~ 15 dB. 30
 How well are the ears isolated
when you use regular
earphones?
SOUND ON THE
LEFT AT 50 DB
WILL “LEAK”
OVER TO THE
RIGHT AFTER A
LOSS OF
ABOUT 40 DB.

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 BONE CONDUCTION

A TUNING FORK SET

INTO VIBRATION AND
PLACED IN CONTACT
WITH THE SKULL WILL
CREATE THE
SENSATION OF SOUND
THROUGH BONE 7
CONDUCTION.

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Bone Conduction Thresholds in dB
re: 1 dyne of force
125 dB

100 dB

75 dB

50 dB

25 dB

0 dB

100 500 1000 5000 10,000 Hz

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 How is the ear stimulated by
bone conduction sound energy?
• Intertia…the skull moves to and fro but the
inertia of the ossicles causes them to lag
behind the motion of the skull and produces
relative motion of the ossicles
• Compression…the vibrations moving through
the skull create compressions and
rarefactions squeezing on the inner ear
capsule
• Osseo-tympanic…the skull moves and the
jaw doesn’t move…creating a net relative
motion on the floor ofH.Dai
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the ear canal and 34
producing “sound” in the ear canal