Hearing and deafness

Abstract

ness includes an expansion of concepts dealing with psychoacoustics, neurophysiology, genetics, diagnostic audiology, and the education of deaf children. The chapters on conservation of hearing, audiometry, special auditory tests, standards for hearing, and medicolegal rules now include technical statements and guidelines assembled from a variety of journals into a single book source. There are those who might complain about the chapter sequence of material presenta¬ tion since some of the more technical chap¬ ters are presented early in the text, but the authors point out that their chosen sequence is arbitrary. The authors point out in their foreword an often overlooked fact . . . hear¬ ing is within the province of psychology, and all the variables that influence behavior must also be considered in any discussion of the hearing process. So important is their concept, the authors state that the permea¬ tion of the text with the psychological as¬ pects of hearing, give the book unity and a common theme. The editors chose to leave a few chapters relatively in their third edition, as memorial to authors who are now de¬ ceased, and because principles have re¬ mained unchanged since 1947. These chap¬ ters, dealing primarily with the rehabilita¬ tion of hearing impaired persons, are now the weakest portion of the book and de¬ served to be updated to match the outstanding quality of the rest of the text. The success of this textbook may be at¬ tributed to the broadness of topics present¬ ed. With such a wide scope of topics, how¬