Audiology Test 1 UPDATED ACTUAL
Exam Questions and CORRECT Answers
What does an Audiologist do? - CORRECT ANSWER - • Prevention of hearing loss
(monitoring school/industries programs)
• Identification of hearing loss (screening)
• Evaluations (hearing and balance assessments)
o Balance = vestibular system (semicircular canals)
• Selecting and dispensing hearing aids
• Habilitation & rehabilitation of H impaired (90% of the job)
o Habilitation is educating/counseling those who are born deaf
o Rehabilitation is educating/counseling those who became deaf
Among older adults, hearing loss is related to... - CORRECT ANSWER - • Poor health
• Decreased physical activity
• Depression
• Isolation
What are the two most prevalent Audiologist jobs? - CORRECT ANSWER - • Medical
and Dispensing/Rehabilitative Audiologists
o ENT/Physician's office and Private Practice
What are the 5 employment settings for Audiologists? - CORRECT ANSWER - • Medical
• Education
• Pediatric
• Dispensing/Rehabilitative
• Industrial
,How do we hear? - CORRECT ANSWER - Sound is captured by the pinna, goes down the
ear canal, hits the ear drum (tympanic membrane), sound pressure waves set the ear drum in
motion, then the 3 ossicle bones of the incus, malleus, and stapes moves in the oval window of
the inner ear, the fluid in the inner ear then gets set into motion, and the basilar membrane gets
moved and the tectorial membrane is moved the opposite way, then the hairs send neural
impulses to the auditory nerve.
The middle ear is an _____ filled cavity - CORRECT ANSWER - air
What does the Eustachian Tube do? - CORRECT ANSWER - equalizes pressure on both
sides of the eardrum
What are the properties/functions of the middle ear? - CORRECT ANSWER - • To
transmit sound from the tympanic membrane to the cochlea
• Impedance matching transformer
o Energy transfer from air filled outer and middle ear space to fluid filled inner ear space
o Provides about a 30dB boost in sound energy to account for the reduction in energy for sound
traveling from an air filled medium to a fluid filled medium
What are the two middle ear muscles? (used for impedance) - CORRECT ANSWER -•
The tensor tympani and the stapedius muscle
o The two muscles contract and the ear drum stiffens which allows for the sound to get reflected
off the eardrum; protects the inner ear!
The cochlea is ________ arranged! - CORRECT ANSWER - tonotopically
-Lower frequencies are located towards the apex and higher tones are located towards the base
-Travelling wave depending on it's frequency will peak on a certain point on the Basilar
membrane
The inner ear is ____ filled (cochlear) - CORRECT ANSWER - FLUID
, What is the vestibular labyrinth? - CORRECT ANSWER - • It consists of three
semicircular fluid/cell filled canals that connect to one another and control your sense of balance.
o Semicircular canals
The sensory organ of hearing is the __________, which sits on the ___________ - CORRECT
ANSWER - Organ of Corti; basilar membrane
What is the pathway of sound? - CORRECT ANSWER - • Outer ear, Middle ear, Inner
ear, Auditory Nerve (8th cranial nerve)
• Acoustic energy, mechanical energy, electro-chemical energy, electrical energy
Define air conduction - CORRECT ANSWER - (how we hear sounds normally) sound
travels from the outer ear to the middle ear and into the inner ear
Define bone conduction - CORRECT ANSWER - sound bypasses the outer and middle
ear, and stimulates the cochlea in the inner ear directly
What is Ototoxicity? - CORRECT ANSWER - Hearing loss caused by medications
Sensorineural hearing loss affects _______ frequencies first - CORRECT ANSWER -
HIGHER - because the base of the cochlea is higher frequencies at the base (where sounds enter
first)
If the site of lesion is on the Auditory Nerve (8th nerve) or higher on the brainstem structure then
the hearing loss is __________ - CORRECT ANSWER - Retrocochlear
What is non-organic Hearing loss? - CORRECT ANSWER - • When patients pretend they
have hearing problems for financial gain
• Kids just want attention
Exam Questions and CORRECT Answers
What does an Audiologist do? - CORRECT ANSWER - • Prevention of hearing loss
(monitoring school/industries programs)
• Identification of hearing loss (screening)
• Evaluations (hearing and balance assessments)
o Balance = vestibular system (semicircular canals)
• Selecting and dispensing hearing aids
• Habilitation & rehabilitation of H impaired (90% of the job)
o Habilitation is educating/counseling those who are born deaf
o Rehabilitation is educating/counseling those who became deaf
Among older adults, hearing loss is related to... - CORRECT ANSWER - • Poor health
• Decreased physical activity
• Depression
• Isolation
What are the two most prevalent Audiologist jobs? - CORRECT ANSWER - • Medical
and Dispensing/Rehabilitative Audiologists
o ENT/Physician's office and Private Practice
What are the 5 employment settings for Audiologists? - CORRECT ANSWER - • Medical
• Education
• Pediatric
• Dispensing/Rehabilitative
• Industrial
,How do we hear? - CORRECT ANSWER - Sound is captured by the pinna, goes down the
ear canal, hits the ear drum (tympanic membrane), sound pressure waves set the ear drum in
motion, then the 3 ossicle bones of the incus, malleus, and stapes moves in the oval window of
the inner ear, the fluid in the inner ear then gets set into motion, and the basilar membrane gets
moved and the tectorial membrane is moved the opposite way, then the hairs send neural
impulses to the auditory nerve.
The middle ear is an _____ filled cavity - CORRECT ANSWER - air
What does the Eustachian Tube do? - CORRECT ANSWER - equalizes pressure on both
sides of the eardrum
What are the properties/functions of the middle ear? - CORRECT ANSWER - • To
transmit sound from the tympanic membrane to the cochlea
• Impedance matching transformer
o Energy transfer from air filled outer and middle ear space to fluid filled inner ear space
o Provides about a 30dB boost in sound energy to account for the reduction in energy for sound
traveling from an air filled medium to a fluid filled medium
What are the two middle ear muscles? (used for impedance) - CORRECT ANSWER -•
The tensor tympani and the stapedius muscle
o The two muscles contract and the ear drum stiffens which allows for the sound to get reflected
off the eardrum; protects the inner ear!
The cochlea is ________ arranged! - CORRECT ANSWER - tonotopically
-Lower frequencies are located towards the apex and higher tones are located towards the base
-Travelling wave depending on it's frequency will peak on a certain point on the Basilar
membrane
The inner ear is ____ filled (cochlear) - CORRECT ANSWER - FLUID
, What is the vestibular labyrinth? - CORRECT ANSWER - • It consists of three
semicircular fluid/cell filled canals that connect to one another and control your sense of balance.
o Semicircular canals
The sensory organ of hearing is the __________, which sits on the ___________ - CORRECT
ANSWER - Organ of Corti; basilar membrane
What is the pathway of sound? - CORRECT ANSWER - • Outer ear, Middle ear, Inner
ear, Auditory Nerve (8th cranial nerve)
• Acoustic energy, mechanical energy, electro-chemical energy, electrical energy
Define air conduction - CORRECT ANSWER - (how we hear sounds normally) sound
travels from the outer ear to the middle ear and into the inner ear
Define bone conduction - CORRECT ANSWER - sound bypasses the outer and middle
ear, and stimulates the cochlea in the inner ear directly
What is Ototoxicity? - CORRECT ANSWER - Hearing loss caused by medications
Sensorineural hearing loss affects _______ frequencies first - CORRECT ANSWER -
HIGHER - because the base of the cochlea is higher frequencies at the base (where sounds enter
first)
If the site of lesion is on the Auditory Nerve (8th nerve) or higher on the brainstem structure then
the hearing loss is __________ - CORRECT ANSWER - Retrocochlear
What is non-organic Hearing loss? - CORRECT ANSWER - • When patients pretend they
have hearing problems for financial gain
• Kids just want attention
