COMD 5070 EXAM 1 STUDY GUIDE | WITH COMPLETE
SOLUTION | LATEST 2025/2026
What makes digital signals different from analog signals? - Digital
signals are discrete
in time and amplitude and the numbers represent snapshots in time
How does sampling rate relate to playback quality, file size, frequencies
saved in recording? - The higher the sampling rate, the bigger file size
is needed and the higher quality you will have
What is the Nyquist frequency? - half the sample rate and is the
highest frequency you can reproduce
What is quantization? - a number that reflects signal amplitude
How quantization it different from sampling rate? - the more decimal
places, the more detail a sample will have
What is the Fourier transform? - refers to how all periodic sounds are
made of a combination of sine waves
What does the Fourier transform reveal about a complex sound? -
creates a spectrum from the time domain waveform and analyzes it to
learn its ingredients (like analyzing ingredients of a cake)
What are the four different filter types? -
high pass low pass band pass band reject
What is a high pass filter? - allows high frequencies to pass through
and holds back lower frequencies
What is a low pass filter? - allows low frequencies to pass through
and holds back higher frequencies
, What is a band pass? - allows a band of frequencies to pass through
and holds back higher and lower frequencies
What is a band reject? - rejects a band of frequencies and allows both
higher and lower frequencies
What is a frequency domain display? - a line spectrum that shows the
frequency components of a periodic sound
What is a time domain display? - shows the time or distance that
waves travel, with rises in air pressure over time
What is a spectrogram? - shows speech over time
What are the dimensions of a spectrogram? - x-axis
shows time y-axis shows frequency darkness shows
intensity
What are the four features of the scientific method?
- empirical deterministic predictive parsimonious
What does empirical mean? - based on data
What does deterministic mean? - obey physical laws
What does predictive mean? - show what will happen
What does parsimonious mean? - use the simplest explanation
possible Why do SLPs use technology in clinical practices? - to
overcome listener bias to describe severity objectively
to demonstrate treatment efficacy (track progress)
to provide biofeedback
What is the difference between pitch perception and frequency
measurement? - pitch is subjective to the listener
frequency is objective and can be measured
How do waveforms differ as frequency goes up or down? - higher
frequency wavelengths appear closer together with more frequency
over a period of time than lower frequencies
SOLUTION | LATEST 2025/2026
What makes digital signals different from analog signals? - Digital
signals are discrete
in time and amplitude and the numbers represent snapshots in time
How does sampling rate relate to playback quality, file size, frequencies
saved in recording? - The higher the sampling rate, the bigger file size
is needed and the higher quality you will have
What is the Nyquist frequency? - half the sample rate and is the
highest frequency you can reproduce
What is quantization? - a number that reflects signal amplitude
How quantization it different from sampling rate? - the more decimal
places, the more detail a sample will have
What is the Fourier transform? - refers to how all periodic sounds are
made of a combination of sine waves
What does the Fourier transform reveal about a complex sound? -
creates a spectrum from the time domain waveform and analyzes it to
learn its ingredients (like analyzing ingredients of a cake)
What are the four different filter types? -
high pass low pass band pass band reject
What is a high pass filter? - allows high frequencies to pass through
and holds back lower frequencies
What is a low pass filter? - allows low frequencies to pass through
and holds back higher frequencies
, What is a band pass? - allows a band of frequencies to pass through
and holds back higher and lower frequencies
What is a band reject? - rejects a band of frequencies and allows both
higher and lower frequencies
What is a frequency domain display? - a line spectrum that shows the
frequency components of a periodic sound
What is a time domain display? - shows the time or distance that
waves travel, with rises in air pressure over time
What is a spectrogram? - shows speech over time
What are the dimensions of a spectrogram? - x-axis
shows time y-axis shows frequency darkness shows
intensity
What are the four features of the scientific method?
- empirical deterministic predictive parsimonious
What does empirical mean? - based on data
What does deterministic mean? - obey physical laws
What does predictive mean? - show what will happen
What does parsimonious mean? - use the simplest explanation
possible Why do SLPs use technology in clinical practices? - to
overcome listener bias to describe severity objectively
to demonstrate treatment efficacy (track progress)
to provide biofeedback
What is the difference between pitch perception and frequency
measurement? - pitch is subjective to the listener
frequency is objective and can be measured
How do waveforms differ as frequency goes up or down? - higher
frequency wavelengths appear closer together with more frequency
over a period of time than lower frequencies
