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Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Perception

Critical Thinking Activities

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Detecting Sound Waves

What does it mean to be hard of hearing? Is being hard of hearing the same as being deaf? If you meet a hearing-impaired person and he has trouble understanding you, should you speak louder? In this activity you gain some experience with the world of the hearing impaired. After you complete this activity, review your text's presentation on the mechanics of the human ear. How do the mechanical actions of sound waves get translated into the neural impulse that we call a sound? What would happen if some portion of that process were damaged? Would you necessarily lose all hearing?

In fact, many hearing-impaired individuals can hear sounds, but lack sensitivity to specific frequencies. Depending on the frequencies affected, this can create a serious problem for speech comprehension. In this activity, you will experience what speech sounds like to some hearing-impaired individuals. Your task is to listen carefully to five speech segments. The first segment is recorded normally. In subsequent segments, specific frequency ranges are attenuated, as they can be in individual patients. Listen to each speech segment and then write down what was said.

[The audio clips below require the Flash 6 plug-in]

In the first example, you will be presented with normal speech.

>>Listen

In the second example, all sounds above 60 Hz have been filtered out.

>>Listen

In the third example, only sounds between 150 and 250 Hz have been allowed to pass.

>>Listen

In the fourth example, all sounds above 1,000 Hz have been removed.

>>Listen

In the fifth and final example, only sounds between 1 kHz and 3 kHz have been permitted to pass.

>>Listen

1.
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In each of the speech segments, the volume or level was the same but different frequency ranges were removed. In samples 2 and 3, only very low frequency sounds were passed, but in 4 and 5, sounds up through 1,000 to 3,000 Hz were permitted. Describe the comprehensibility of the different samples. Which were easier to understand?
2.
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If you had been able to see a video of the speaker's lips moving while you heard the speech, do you think it would have helped you to understand what was said? Explain your answer.

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