Mechanical model of the human ear

Diagrams showing cutaway views of the human ear are all very well for teaching the mechanics of hearing, but a tabletop model the students can manipulate is even better. The author presents a mechanical model based upon the water-tube cochlea previously developed by Robert Keolian, but including the outer- and middle-ear components. The model allows phenomena such as the acoustic reflex, critical bands, and masking of higher-frequency by lower-frequency tones.