CSD 301 - Audiology
Study Guide for Exam #1
Fall, 2009

• Know the basic anatomy of the ear from the external ear through the middle and inner ears and on up the ascending auditory pathway to the auditory cortex.
• What is the purpose of taking case history information?
• How does age affect hearing?
• What landmarks do you look for in performing an otoscopic inspection? What kind of information can you get from an otoscopic?
• Understand the difference between dB SPL and dB HL. Which do we use in audiometry? Be able to convert from one to another (if given information from table).
• Be able to define and correctly use common audiologic terminology.
• How does hearing loss affect speech intelligibility?
• What is a threshold? How is one measured in conventional audiometry?
• Interpret the results of an audiogram, including:
• understand the basic mechanics of performing a pure tone audiogram
• recognize all air and bone conduction symbols
• classify type, degree, and configuration of hearing loss
• Understand the variables that can affect your audiometric test results.
• What happens in the ear when you get an ear infection?

Fine Print: (the lawyers made me put this in!)  If you are looking for material to support the topics discussed in class you should read the assigned chapters in the textbook. There may or may not be questions taken directly from text. I expect you to have a basic understanding of auditory anatomy and that you "understand" the topics covered in class (not just able to regurgitate facts from the slides).  The list above includes many of the topics we have discussed and/or questions with which you should be familiar.  Although I have tried to encompass many of the things I want you to know, this list is merely a study guide to try to prompt you and is not meant to be comprehensive.  Many (if not most) of the questions on the exam I expect everyone in the class to answer correctly.  Some should be simple regurgitation that, if you were in class, should be no problem.  Others are meant to reflect a deeper understanding of the material and, although I would love to have everyone in the class answer correctly, past performance has indicated that many will not.  I do not try to write "trick" questions, but on a mostly multiple-choice exam I try to find "bluff" options that are not ridiculous.  For example, if I were to ask you which of the choices is NOT a landmark on the tympanic membrane that we look for in performing otoscopics, "Denmark" would not make for a good bluff!  I also WILL ask you several questions that I consider "synthesis" questions.  I want to see how well you understand, not just how well you memorize.  I will not ask you a question for which you have not been given the information to correctly answer the question, but we may not have used that exact example in class.  Students frequently feel that exams in their classes do not test their knowledge of the material.  Clearly, an exam is SAMPLING the information you should have learned from the class but cannot possibly test all that you learned.  I attempt to write exams that DO test your depth of understanding or ability to synthesize the information.