Objective audiometry: Procedures for testing the hearing function that do not require behavioral responses.
Obscure auditory dysfunction (OAD): Decreased hearing abilities, primarily in adverse listening conditions, in the absence of identifiable peripheral pathology.
Obturator: A prosthetic device that forms an artificial palate. It is used to cover a cleft palate.
Occlusion effect (OE): The impression of increased loudness of a bone-conducted tone when the outer ear is tightly covered or occluded.
Occupational therapist: A professional who works with clients' small motor movements.
Octave: The difference between two tones separated by a frequency ratio of 2:1.
Ohm (W): One acoustic ohm of impedance is the opposition to a sound when a pressure of 1 mbar produces a volume velocity of 1 cm3/sec.
Olfactory pits: Depressions between the nasomedian and lateral nasal processes that will ultimately become the right and left nasal cavities.
Olivocochlear bundle (OCB): A grouping of nerve units in the brainstem that course to the cochlear nuclei and terminate in the cochleas. Efferent fibers from the OCB provide inhibitory connections to the auditory neurons.
Omission: In articulation, the absence of a phoneme that has not been produced or replaced.
Open syllable: A syllable, or basic acoustic unit of speech, that ends in a vowel.
Operant conditioning audiometry (OCA): The use of tangible reinforcement, such as edible items, to condition difficult-to-test patients for pure-tone audiometry.
Optimal pitch level: A particularly suitable pitch level for an individual largely determined by vocal fold structure.
Oral apraxia: A neurological impairment in programming and executing speech and nonspeech movements of the mouth.
Oral cavity: The mouth, housing the teeth and tongue.
Oral peripheral exam: See Examination of the peripheral speech mechanism.
Oral-motor training: Exercises and activities that train volitional control over movements needed for speech. Also known as motor programming.
Organ of Corti: An intricate structure that runs along the center of the membraneous labyrinth of the cochlea and contains the auditory sensory receptors consisting of the basilar membrane and the tectorial membrane.
Organic: Physiological.
Orthodontist: A dental specialist who is concerned primarily with alignment of the teeth.
Oscillation: The back-and-forth movement of a vibrating body.
Osseocartilaginous junction: The union between the bony and cartilaginous portions of the external auditory canal.
Osseotympanic bone conduction: The contribution to hearing by bone conduction created when the vibrating skull sets the air in the external ear canal into vibration, causing sound waves to pass down the canal, impinging on the eardrum membrane, and being conducted through the middle ear to the cochlea.
Ossicles: The chain of three tiny bones found in each middle ear (malleus, incus, and stapes).
Ossicular discontinuity: A break in the chain of small bones in the middle ear.
Osteitis: Inflammation of bone marked by tenderness, enlargement, and pain.
Osteomyelitis: Inflammation of bone caused by a purulent infection.
Otalgia: Pain in the ear.
Otitis media with effusion (OME): Inflammation of the middle ear with fluid, resulting in temporary hearing loss.
Otitis media: Inflammation of the middle ear, with or without infection.
Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs): Sounds emanating from the cochlea, either spontaneously or in response to sound stimulation, that can be detected in the external auditory canal with probe-tube microphones.
Otocyst: The auditory vesicle (sac) of the human embryo.
Otolaryngologist: A physician who specializes in the ear, nose, and throat.
Otology: Subspecialty of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the ear.
Otomycosis: Fungal infection of the external ear.
Otoplasty: Any plastic surgery of the outer ear.
Otorrhea: Any discharge from the external auditory canal or from the middle ear.
Otosclerosis: The laying down of new bone in the middle ear, usually around the footplate of the stapes. When it interferes with stapedial vibration, it produces a progressive conductive hearing loss.
Otoscope: A special flashlight device with a funnel-like speculum on the end, designed to observe the tympanic membrane.
Otospongiosis: See Otosclerosis.
Ototoxic: Poisonous to the ear. Refers to destructive drugs that may damage inner ear structures.
Outer ear: The outermost portion of the hearing mechanism (the pinna and the external auditory meatus or ear canal), filled with air. Its primary function is to carry sounds to the middle ear.
Output sound-pressure level (OSPL): The newer term for maximum power output of a hearing aid; the highest sound-pressure level to leave the receiver of a hearing aid, regardless of the input level.
Oval window: A tiny, oval-shaped aperture beneath the footplate of the stapes. The oval window separates the middle ear from the inner ear.
Overmasking (OM): Occurs when a masking noise presented to the nontest ear is of sufficient intensity to shift the threshold in the test ear beyond its true value. In overmasking, the masking noise crosses from the masked ear to the test ear by bone conduction.
Overrecruitment: See Hyperrecruitment.
Overtone: Any whole-number multiple of the fundamental frequency of a complex wave. It differs from the harmonic only in the numbering used (e.g., the first overtone is equal to the second harmonic).
Palatal obturator: A plate that covers a portion of the soft palate. It is useful for individuals who have had palatal surgery.
Palatal shelves: Wedge-shaped tissue masses that will become the bony hard palate.
Palatoplasty: Surgical correction of a cleft palate.
Paracusis willisii: A condition found among patients with conductive hearing loss in which they understand speech better in noisy than in quiet surroundings.
Paralysis: Inability to move a muscle.
Paraphasia: Word substitutions that are found in some individuals with aphasia who may talk fluently and grammatically.
Paresis: Muscle weakness, partial paralysis.
Parietal lobe: The division of each side of the cerebral cortex between the frontal and occipital lobes.
Parietal pleura: Pleural membrane that lines the inner aspects of the thorax.
Parkinson's disease: A progressive neurogenic disorder that is characterized by resting tremors, slowness of movement, and difficulty initiating voluntary movements. Speech may be rapid, breathy, and reduced in loudness, pitch range, and stress.
Parkinsonism: A chronic nervous disorder that is marked by muscled rigidity but without tremor of resting muscles.
Pars flaccida: The loose folds of epithelium of the tympanic membrane above the malleus.
Pars tensa: All of the remaining (taut) portion of the tympanic membrane besides the pars flaccida.
Partial recruitment: The condition in which a given amount of intensity in a pathological ear produces almost as much loudness as the same amount of intensity produces in a normal ear.
Pascal (Pa): A unit of pressure equal to 1 N/m2.
Passive recoil forces: Nonmuscular forces that assist the exhalation process.
PB Max: The highest word-recognition score obtained with PB word lists on a performance-intensity function, regardless of level.
Pectoral girdle: Clavicle and scapula bones.
Pectoralis minor muscle: Muscle just deep to the pectoralis major muscle that can assist in inhalation.
Pediatrician: A physician who specializes in children's illnesses.
Pedunculated polyp: Polyp that appears to be attached to the vocal fold by a stalk.
Pelvic girdle: Lower end of the trunk of the body comprised of the ilium, ischium, and pubic bones.
Percentile rank: A number that indicates the percentage of people who are below a particular level on a variable value such as height or a score on a test.
Perceptual training : See Ear training.
Performance-intensity function for PB word lists (PI-PB): A graph showing the percentage correct of word-recognition materials as a function of intensity. The graph usually shows the word-recognition score on the ordinate and the sensation level on the abscissa.
Perilymph: Watery fluid that fills the bony labyrinth of the cochlea and surrounds the outside of the membraneous labyrinth.
Period: The duration (in seconds) of one cycle of vibration. The period is the reciprocal of frequency (e.g., the period of a 1000 Hz tone is 1/1000 second).
Periodic wave: A waveform that repeats over time.
Peripheral nervous system: Located outside the CNS, it consists of twelve pairs of cranial nerves, thirty-one pairs of spinal nerves, and portions of the autonomic nerves that regulate smooth muscles and glands and helps the CNS to communicate with the body.
Peristalsis: Coordinated, rhythmic contractions.
Permanent threshold shift (PTS): Permanent sensorineural loss of hearing, usually associated with exposure to intense noise.
Perpetuating cause: See Maintaining cause.
Perseveration: Persistent repetition of an activity.
Personal hearing aids: Amplification devices ranging from tiny, in-the-ear models to those worn behind the ear or on the body.
Pervasive developmental disability (PDD): Any of several disorders of childhood that are characterized by markedly atypical behaviors and severe impairment in the ability to relate to others, including infantile autism and childhood schizophrenia.
Pharyngeal arches: Paired embryonic arches that modify, in humans, into structures of the ear and neck. In fish they modify into gills.
Pharyngeal cavity: The throat.
Pharyngeal flap: A secondary surgical procedure to correct velopharyngeal incompetence.
Pharyngostomy: A surgical hole in the pharynx through which a feeding tube may be placed.
Pharynx: The anatomical passageway connecting the nasal and oral cavities.
Phase: The relationship in time between two or more waves.
Phenotype: The observable makeup of an individual, which is determined by genetic or a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
Phon: The unit of loudness level. It corresponds to the loudness of a signal at other frequencies equal to the intensity at numbers of intensity of a 1000 Hz tone.
Phonation: Production of sound by vocal fold vibration.
Phoneme: A family of speech sounds that are phonetically similar. Phonemes combine with each other to form words, phrases, and sentences.
Phonemic regression: A slowness in auditory comprehension associated with advanced age.
Phonetically balanced (PB): word lists Lists of monosyllabic words used for determining word-recognition scores. Theoretically, each list contains the same distribution of phonemes that occurs in connected English discourse.
Phonetically consistent forms (PCFs): Consistent vocal patterns that function as meaningful "words" for the infant. These are a transition to words.
Phonological process: A simplification of adult phonology; a system of describing children's articulatory patterns.
Phonological: Pertaining to the sound system of language.
Phonology: The study of the sound systems of language.
Phonotactic: The study of the way in which phonemes are combined and arranged in syllables and words of a particular language or dialect.
Physical therapist: A professional who works with clients' large motor movements.
Physical-volume test (PVT): A high sound intensity, suggesting a large volume of air (greater than 5 cm3) may be observed on c1 during immittance measures. This indicates that a patent P.E. tube or tympanic membrane perforation is present.
Physiology: The branch of biology that is concerned with the process and function of parts of the body.
Picture Identification Task (PIT): A word-recognition test using pictures of rhyming CNC words.
Pidgin signed English (PSE): A sign system that incorporates ASL-like signs but maintains English word order.
Pierre Robin syndrome: A congenital condition resulting in a small mandible, cleft lip, cleft palate, and other facial abnormalities.
Pinna : The funnel-shape outermost part of the ear, which serves to collect the sound waves and channel them into the ear.
Pinnaplasty: A cosmetic operation designed to improve the appearance of the pinna.
Pitch breaks: Sudden uncontrolled upward or downward changes in pitch.
Pitch: The subjective impression of the highness or lowness of a sound. The psychological correlate of frequency.
Place of articulation: In describing consonant production, the place in the vocal tract that is narrowed or occluded to form the particular consonant.
Place theory of hearing: The explanation for pitch perception based on a precise place on the organ of Corti, which when stimulated results in the perception of a specific pitch.
Plasticity: The ability of cells, such as those in the auditory centers of the brain, to become altered in order to conform to their immediate environment.
Plateau: The theoretical point in clinical masking at which the level of noise in the nontest ear may be raised or lowered about 15 dB without affecting the threshold of the signal in the test ear; the levels between undermasking and overmasking at which the true threshold of the test ear may be seen.
Play audiometry: A method of assessing the hearing of children ages 2? to 3 years and older who are instructed to put a block in a basket, a peg in a board, or other action whenever they hear a sound.
Pneumatization: The formation of air cavities in tissues, as in the temporal bones of the skull.
Politzerization: Inflation of the middle ear via the eustachian tube by forcing air through the nose.
Pons: A bridge of fibers and neurons that connect the two sides of the brain at its base.
Portfolio: A collection of information and material about an individual taken from various sources that may be used both for initial assessment and to measure progress.
Positron emission tomography (PET): A medical imaging procedure that can indicate changes in the brain with a minimum of patient exposure to radioactivity. It is useful in identifying biochemical changes in the brain.
Posterior cricoarytenoid muscle: Intrinsic laryngeal muscle that abducts the vocal folds.
Postlingually : Refers to hearing loss acquired after the person has had the opportunity to experience speech and language.
Postlinguistic hearing loss: Hearing loss acquired by children after they have developed some language skills.
Posttherapy testing: Assessment following intervention.
Potential energy: Energy resulting from a fixed and relative position, as a coiled spring.
Power: The rate at which work is done. Units of measurement are watts or ergs/second.
Prader-Willi syndrome: A congenital condition characterized by obesity and intellectual deficit.
Pragmatics: The use, function, or purpose of communication; the study of communicative acts and contexts.
Precipitating cause: Factors that trigger a disorder; for example, a stroke.
Predictive value: The percentage of all positive test results that are truly positive and the percentage of all negative test results that are truly negative.
Predisposing cause: Underlying factors that contribute to a problem; for example, a genetic basis.
Prelingually: Refers to hearing loss acquired before the person developed speech.
Prelinguistic hearing loss: Hearing loss that is either congenital or acquired before language skills have been developed.
Premaxilla: The anterior portion of the hard palate to the incisive foramen.
Presbycusis: Hearing loss induced through the aging process caused by the slow deterioration of the hair cells and acoustic nerve.
Pressure consonant: A consonant sound that requires the build up of intra-oral air pressure like the sound /t/.
Pressure: Force over an area of surface.
Pressure-equalizing (P.E.): tube A short tube or grommet placed through a myringotomy incision in a tympanic membrane to allow for middle-ear ventilation.
Prevalence: The total number of cases of a disorder at a particular point in time in a designated population.
Primary motor cortex: A 2-centimeter-wide gyrus immediately in front of or anterior to the central sulcus that controls motor movements.
Production training: In the Van Riper approach to articulation, therapy that involves teaching the client to say the target phoneme in isolation, then syllables, words, phrases, and sentences.
Prognosis: An informed prediction of the outcome of a disorder.
Prolabium: Central prominence of the lip; also isolated soft tissue mass in unrepaired bilateral clefts.
Prolongation: In fluency analysis, the process of holding a phoneme longer than is typical; for example, "sssssso."
Promontory: A protrusion into the middle ear, at its labyrinthine wall, produced by the basal turn of the cochlea.
Prosody: The rate and rhythm of language; the melodic pattern of speech.
Prosthodontist: A dental specialist who is concerned with the replacement of missing teeth and other oral structures with various appliances.
Proxemics: The study of physical distance between people.
Pseudobulbar palsy: A condition that resembles progressive bulbar palsy, characterized by spastic dysarthria and dysphagia.
Pseudohypacusis: See Nonorganic hearing loss.
Psychiatrist: A medical doctor who may diagnose, prescribe medication, and provide other forms of treatment to clients with psychological problems.
Psychogenic hearing loss: A nonorganic hearing loss produced at the unconscious level, as by an anxiety state.
Psychogenic: Caused by psychological factors.
Psychologist: A professional whose distinguishing roles are to assess and manage intellectual and emotional function.
Psychophysical tuning curve (PTC): The measurable response in the cochlea to specific frequencies introduced into the ear.
Pull-out therapy: Removing a child from a classroom so that she or he can participate in a therapy session.
Pure tone audiometry: A procedure that is used to measure hearing thresholds via air and bone conduction.
Pure tone stimuli: Sounds that contain a single frequency-usually 125 Hz, 250 Hz, 500 Hz, 1,000 Hz, 2,000 Hz, 4,000 Hz and 8,000 Hz-and are used in pure tone audiometry.
Pure tone: A tone of only 1 frequency (i.e., no harmonics).
Pure-tone average (PTA): The average of the hearing levels at frequencies 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz for each ear, as obtained on a pure-tone hearing test. Sometimes the pure-tone average is computed by averaging the two lowest thresholds obtained at 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz.
Purulent otitis media: A middle ear infection.
Purulent: Related to the formation of pus.
Push-in therapy: Communication intervention by a speech-language pathologist within a classroom.
Putamen: A portion of the basal nuclei.
Pyloric stenosis: A narrowing of the sphincter connecting the stomach to the small intestine, resulting in a blockage to the intestines.
Pyramidal tract: The primary voluntary motor control system or path, originating in the primary motor cortex, traveling uninterrupted to the spinal cord, and crossing to the other side of the body in the brain stem at the level of the medulla.
