Auditory stimuli experiences and comfort in dichotic listening tasks

Auditory Stimulus

Discuss your threshold for auditory stimuli experiences and comfort levels with dichotic listening, or the "cocktail party" phenomenon. Discuss how dividing attention facilitates or impedes your learning. Identify and articulate what you see as the sensory perception problem involved, make recommendations.

I have always prided myself on being a good listener. During a cocktail party, rather than attempting to filter out a great many conversations, you would be apt to find me in the corner, listening intently to one person. I feel justified calling myself a good listener because people have complimented me on this attribute in the past. I am told that when I am in conversation with someone, that person feels as if he or she is the focus of the whole world. Without even necessarily trying, I am always attentive to the thoughts and concerns of others. Because I show a real interest in communicating one-on-one, I have learned to be able to understand what a person is feeling from their tone of voice as much as their word choice. I find that because I am able to listen attentively to people when they speak to me, I can remember the key points of what they have been talking about, points that are forgotten by other listeners in the room. Temperamentally, I would usually prefer to listen rather than to talk, and although this might be seen as an auditory weakness, I think that my introverted yet mindful listening style has its strengths.

However, because individuals think I am a good listener does not mean I am a perfect listener. Because I like to focus on one aspect of a room at a time, I often find it difficult to keep my ear out for other auditory stimulus. For example, I will find myself engaged in an intense conversation at a party, and my other, outraged friend will approach me: "I've been calling your name for a good five minutes! Why did you abandon me?" I often filter out what is not my primary focus, which may simply be a second person's voice in the room.

or, one might add, not in the room. For example, I was recently food shopping and chatting on my cell with my sister, Although my sister was not with me physically, as is typical of my personality, I was focused, not on the cereal and boxes of Pop Tarts in front of me, or on the other sounds around me, but on my sister's voice alone. Vaguely, I though I could hear my mother calling my name. Although the store was crowded with strangers, and my attention was diverted, I could recognize my mother's unique vocal tones. However, because my attention was upon my sister, I didn't realize what my mother was saying, and only after I said good-bye did I realize that my mother had been asking me to clarify if my sister wanted chunky or creamy peanut butter. I knew my mother was speaking despite the mixture of different and unfamiliar voices in the store, but I could not focus what she was saying because of my interest in my sister. Thus, this is one example of how being better able to juggle competing auditory stimuli might be something I need to work on as a listener.