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Listening in on Cell Phone Conversations Hard to Resist

11:24 am on September 22, 2010 | Category: Cell Phones, Telephone

Listening in strangers’ cell phone calls is hard for human brain to resist, according to a new study published in the journal, Psychological Science.

“We have less control to move our attention away from half a conversation than when listening to a dialogue,” explained Lauren Emberson, a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell University who conducted a study into the distracting effects of overhearing ramdom conversations.

Participants in the study were asked to perform various computerized tasks that required attention, while listening to recordings of one- and two-sided conversations. The volunteers were found to perform significantly worse when listening to only one side of a phone call, indicating a higher level of distraction.

Emberson believes that this is because our brains are trained to ignore predictable things, but will perk up when faced with an unpredictable series of statements and silences.

A person who listens to such a conversation and tries to figure out what’s being said isn’t necessarily evesdropping, Emberson says. “Their cognitive mechanism basically means that theyâ€™re forced to listen.”

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