Hearing Sciences: A Foundational Approach (The Allyn & Bacon Communication Sciences and Disorders)

This first edition text provides readers with a comprehensive look at hearing science and a broad coverage of auditory mechanisms and functions. The ideal tool for building knowledge in the area, Hearing Science: A Foundational Approach by Durrant and Feth covers such topics as the capacities of the auditory system; basic concepts of quantification and physics; the decibel; peripheral and central auditory systems; auditory physiology and neurophysiology; and hearing capacities and proclivity. It also presents the fundamental concepts of physics, acoustics, anatomy, physiology, and sensory psychology to help readers comprehend the complex auditory processes presented.

John D. Durrant, Ph.D., has been a teacher, researcher, and clinician in audiology for nearly four decades, serving on the faculties of Temple University and (currently) the University of Pittsburgh. He is a Fellow of the American-Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) and the American Academy of Audiology (AAA) and recipient of the ASHA Honors of the Association.

Although educated as a “speech and hearing therapist” (Ohio University), his interests developed early in hearing science, especially in the underlying physiological/neurophysiological mechanisms (Northwestern University), which in turn led to his career in basic and applied/clinical electrophysiology and allied areas of hearing and balance. These remain his primary areas of both his teaching responsibility and research. His teaching experience has transcended virtually all levels of the higher education from undergraduate to graduate education in communication science and disorders, including mentoring of doctoral students, to otolaryngology residency training. His research interests have embraced pervasively both normal and pathological functioning of the auditory system and ways to evaluate function, supported by various agencies including the NIH.

As a clinician, Dr. Durrant’s responsibilities have included the directorship of audiology clinics in the medical centers of both his past and present affiliation. He also has taught and conducted research via international collaborations in Europe, including appointment to the faculty of medical physiology at the Université Lyon 1. He has numerous research and other publications and is active in national and international professional affairs.

Lawrence L. Feth, Ph.D., has been a hearing scientist and university professor for more than forty years. He has served on the faculties of Ohio State University (currently), University of Kansas, and Purdue University. He is a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), and a recipient of the ASHA Honors of the Association. 

After earning a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Ohio State University, Dr. Feth was the first graduate of the doctoral program in bioacoustics at the University of Pittsburgh. His research has focused on auditory signal processing of complex sounds by human listeners with normal hearing, and how hearing impairments affect those processes. His research has been supported by the NIH, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the Office of Naval Research. The author of numerous peer-reviewed articles, Dr. Feth was co-author of the text The Physiology of Speech and Hearing: An Introduction. He has directed many doctoral dissertations, master’s theses, and undergraduate honors theses.