This entry discusses the two classic means by which the auditory system can be stimulated—air conduction (AC) and bone conduction (BC). Both play a primary role in the transmission of energy to the auditory system, which leads to an auditory [Page 71]percept (or hearing sensation). Testing the auditory system of human listeners and other animal species involves use of both AC and BC techniques to determine basic hearing sensitivity for different types of stimuli (frequency-specific pure tones, speech signals, broad-frequency transients).

In addition, AC and BC techniques are used to determine the potential location of a problem (site of lesion) along the auditory pathway, if the hearing sensitivity is not within a normal range. The energy of a stimulus delivered by AC enters the ear canal ...