While it’s easier said than done, try to be aware of your own biases and judgments about people when you’re talking to them. Taking a few seconds to ask them to elaborate is usually less bothersome than a potential misunderstanding down the line. Don’t be afraid to ask the other person a question about something they’ve said that’s unclear. At the end of a conversation, try briefly summarizing the main points to make sure you clearly understood everything. Try to take in visual cues from their facial expressions or body language while they’re talking. When you’re talking to someone, try to pay attention to more than just their words. There are a few things you can do to improve your listening skills, such as: However, it’s a phenomenon that affects nearly everyone. Some people seek out treatment for selective hearing.
In addition, the investigators were able to use these brain activity patterns to predict which speaker the participant listened to and determine whether they paid attention to the wrong speaker at any point. The brain activity patterns suggested that the participants only paid attention to the speaker they were asked to focus on. Using information about brain activity patterns from the electrodes as well as a decoding process, the investigators reconstructed what the participants heard.
They were then asked to pick out which words were said by one of the two speakers. Each sample contained a different speaker and phrase. Participants were asked to listen to two different samples of speech at the same time. Investigators used about 90 electrodes per person to monitor the brain activity of people undergoing surgery for epilepsy. However, the investigators also found that they could use the patterns of brain activity they observed to predict which speaker or words someone was listening to. These results are similar to those of the 2008 study discussed above. Brain activityĪ 2012 study found that the presentation of sounds within your brain doesn’t reflect all of the sounds in your environment but, rather, what you want or need to hear. They had a much easier time focusing on only the male or the female voice when watching a video of the speakers along with the audio.īased on these results, being able to see someone while they’re talking might help you listen more effectively. Participants were asked to pay attention to either the female or the male speaker. Visual cues are also an important part of selective hearing.įor example, a 2013 study involved playing audio of a man and woman talking at the same time. However, when they were detecting changes in the specified ear, they ignored the sound in the other ear. MRI scans of the participants’ brains showed that they heard the sounds in each ear. The investigators then played different pitches in each ear at the same time and asked the participants to note any changes in pitch in the ear they were asked to focus on.
#Selective listening definition tv
Your brain prioritized the sound of the TV over that person’s voice because your goal was to finish watching the show.Ī 2008 study put this concept to the test by asking participants to pay attention to sounds in one ear but not in the other. Chances are good that you didn’t hear much of what they said to you. Your brain chooses what to listen to based on what you’re trying to do.įor example, imagine that someone started talking to you while you were trying to finish watching an episode of a TV show. Selective hearing involves many factors, including your goals, vision, and brain activity patterns.
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