G. Richard Price
Army Res. Lab., Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005-5425
The model, described by Kalb in the previous paper at this meeting, was initially designed to predict hazard from intense impulses [G. R. Price and J. T. Kalb, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 90, 219--227 (1991)]. In this mode it correlates highly with auditory hazard from impulses and has provided a radically different approach to an impulse noise damage-risk criterion. A feature of major significance is the ``movie'' it produces showing basilar membrane displacement synchronized with temporal progression through the pressure history. This display allows visualization of intracochlear events, promoting insight into the ear's response to spectrally and temporally complex signals. In addition to research applications, the model has a potential pedagogical role. For example, if the basilar membrane is given a ``Q'' associated with active processes in the cochlea, then an additional range of demonstrations is possible. The ``half-octave shift'' for TTSs, the traveling wave, frequency localization, and the upward spread of masking can be shown. The model runs on a PC and with demonstrations is easily contained on a single floppy disk.