Psychoacoustics

Basic knowledge of: anatomy-physiology of the auditory system, acoustics, clinical audiology and technical means of auditory rehabilitation.

Lectures, practical applications in the laboratory, demonstrations and audio, audiovisual and interactive simulations, exploration of scientific sites and software/applications, didactic games, viewing of documentaries and analysis of scientific articles in the field of psychoacoustics. Assistance to students in the professor’s office/or at a distance and support in bibliographic research for the works.

To define the various psychoacoustic phenomena and relate the concepts of Psychoacoustics and their practical application in Audiology.
To acquire basic knowledge in Psychoacoustics such as to:
Define perception, psychoacoustics and describe psychophysical methods.
Define the various threshold types.
Define the temporal processing skills of sounds and their relationship to the duration of sounds and other variables.
Define dynamic range of hearing: normal hearing and hearing loss.
Define curves of equal loudness level, and the variables that influence loudness.
Define phone and sone and relate dB SPL to phons and sones.
List the factors that influence auditory fatigue (temporary threshold shift), auditory adaptation and auditory habituation.
Define auditory recruitment, enumerate and describe the different methods of evaluation of auditory recruitment.
Define mel and relate it to frequency, and define pitch perception theories.
Define critical band and psychoacoustics tuning curves and relate critical band with masking effect.
Describe masking patterns.
Describe how we locate the direction and distance of sound sources, and describe the associated concepts, theories and errors. Binaural hearing.
Define timbre and different auditory illusions.

1h: Presentation of the Curricular Unit and scheduling of evaluation dates;
3h: Introduction to Psychoacoustics; Psychophysical methods; auditory perception;
3h: Differential sensitivity; Auditory dynamic range;
3h: Temporal perception of sounds: Temporal Resolution; Temporal Ordering; Temporal Integration; Temporal Masking;
4h: Loudness; Auditory Recruitment;
3h: Auditory Fatigue; Temporary Threshold Shifts; Auditory Adaptation; Auditory Habituation;
4h: Pitch;
4h: Masking Effect; Critical Band; Psychoacoustics Tuning Curves;
4h: Binaural Hearing; Sound Localization; Binaural Masking Level Differences;
4h: Timbre; Music perception; Auditory and Audiovisual Illusions;
6h: Practical Applications; Audio and audiovisual demonstrations and simulations in the field of psychoacoustics;
3h: Presentation of works;
3h: Clarification of doubts; Written assessment.

NAO

Essential:

Allen, P. (2007). Acoustics and psychoacoustics. In R. Roeser, M. Valente, & H. Hosford-Dunn. Audiology diagnosis: audiology. (2nd ed., pp. 153-180). New York: Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.
Fastl, H. & Zwicker, E. (2007). Psychoacoustics: Facts and models. (3rd ed.). Berlin: Springer. Berlin.
Gelfand, S. A. (2009). Essentials of audiology. (3rd ed). New York: Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.
Henrique, L. (2002). Acústica Musical. Lisboa: Serviço de Educação de Bolsas. Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.
Hurley, R. & Fulton, S. (2007). Psychoacoustic considerations and implications for the diagnosis of (C)APD. In F. Musiek, & G. Chermak, Handbook of (Central) Auditory Processing Disorder: Auditory neuroscience and diagnosis. (pp. 13-51). San Diego: Plural Publishing, Inc.
Monteiro, L. & Subtil, J. (2018). Audiologia, som e audição das bases à clínica. (1ª ed.) Massamá: Círculo Médico.
Moore, B. (2008). An introduction to the psychology of hearing. (5th ed.). San Diego: Academic Press.
Moore, B. (2007). Cochlear hearing loss: Physiological, psychological and technical issues. (2nd ed.). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Lda.
Plack, C. J. (2005). The Sense of Hearing. Hove: Psychology Press.
Schnupp, J., Nelken, I., & King, A. (2011). Auditory neuroscience: Making sense of sound. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Yost, W., Popper, A., Fay, R. (2008). Auditory Perception of Sound Sources. Chicago: Springer

Recommended:

Florentine, M., Popper, A., & Fay, R. (2011). Loudness. Springer Handbook of Auditory Research. New York: Springer.
Gelfand, S. A. (2016). Essentials of audiology. (4th ed). New York: Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.
Gelfand, S. A. (2010). Hearing: An Introduction to Psychological and Physiological Acoustics (5th ed.). London: Informa Healthcare.
Lentz, J. J. (2020). Psychoacoustics: perception of normal and impaired hearing with audiology applications. San Diego, CA: Plural Publishing.
Moore, B. (2003). Psychoacoustics. In Rossing, TD. Springer Handbook of Acoustics. New York: Springer Science+Business Media.
Plack, C. J., Oxenham, A., Fay, R., & Popper, A. (2005). Pitch. Neural Coding and Perception. Springer Handbook of Auditory Research. New York: Springer.