ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the body of knowledge and methodology, the stimulus for the auditory system, and the functional organization of the auditory system. The detection of sound is primarily accomplished by the auditory sensory system, but sound is also detected by the skin, receptors located in the joints, the otolithic organs, a component of the vestibular system. The lower threshold is the minimal energy that can be detected by a specific sensory system. The Weber-Fechner law was accepted for almost a century until it was superseded by Stevens’ power law. The method of magnitude production is the opposite of the method of subjective estimation. A noise survey is the characterization of the sounds in a given environment in terms of frequency, intensity in relation to people who live or work in the area where noise is a problem—the engine room of a ship, the room where metal automobile parts are molded by riveting, a neighborhood close to an airport.
