1. Know the difference between pitch and frequency, loudness and amplitude.

2. Understand sound waves and the physical measures of frequency (Hertz) and amplitude (decibel). What does 100 Hz mean? What does it mean to go from 100 Hz to 200 Hz? What does 0 dB SPL mean? What does it mean to go from 0 dB to 40 dB SPL?

3. Understand describing sound waves as sine waves. In what sense is this description accurate and inaccurate? What happens when sound waves combine?

4. What is a fundamental problem in hearing that does not occur in vision?

5. Know the structure of the ear. Be able to follow the sequence from a sound wave hitting the pinna to the bending of a hair cell. Understand the different functions of the Inner Hair Cells and the Outer Hair Cells.

6. Consider the cases of a 50 Hz and a 5000 Hz sound signal. Know how these signals affect the basilar membrane and produce different pitch experiences according to the Rutherford/Wever frequency/volley explanation and the place explanations of Helmholtz and Von Bekesy.

7. What is Fourier Analysis? What does it mean to say that the basilar membrane is a Fourier analysis machine?

8. What is a click-induced otoacoustic emission? How does this happen? How can we use this emission to diagnose hearing loss? What is a spontaneous otoacoustic emission? What do these spontaneous otoacoustic emissions tell us about the basilar membrane?

9. What were Steven's scales of loudness and pitch? How were they created?

10. What is an audibility function? How is it produced? Know the general shape of the function. What does this tell us about hearing?

11. What is an equal loudness contour? How are they produced? Know the general shape of these functions. Functionally, what does these contours tell us about hearing?

12. What is the amplitude-frequency shift? Know the general shapes of these contours. How are they produced? Functionally, what do these contours tell us about hearing?

13. Understand the azimuth system for indicating direction/location.

14. Know how interaural intensity differences contribute to localization of sounds. Does this work with all frequencies?

15. Know how interaural time differences contribute to localization of sounds. Does this work with all frequencies?

16. The duplex theory of sound localization was tested in an experiment by Stevens and Newman. What were the results? What do the results suggest for human hearing?

17. What is the cone of confusion? Why do we have difficulty discriminating between a sound located at 0 and at 180 degrees? Explain why moving your head makes localizing a sound easier.

18. What is the fundamental problem for the hearing system according to Auditory Scene Analysis? How does Gestalt psychology connect with Auditory Scene Analysis?

19. What happens on your basilar membrane when I play a musical note on a piano, like a middle-C (262 Hz) . How is that different from a 262 Hz sine wave? What is a Fourier analysis?

20. For musical notes, what is the fundamental frequency? What are harmonics? What is timbre? How is timbre produced? What is the missing fundamental effect and why is it important?

21. What is tone chroma? What is tone height? Shepard's psychological scale for musical notes has the shape of a helix. Why does it have that shape?

22. What is the octave effect? How is it used in constructing a musical scale?

23. What is musical consonance vs. dissonance? Can we predict when pairs of notes will show consonance/dissonance? What was Helmholtz's explanation of consonance/dissonance?