Study shows why overhearing cell phone calls bugs us so much

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-39728-Tech-Buzz-Examiner~y2010m5d23-Study-shows-why-overhearing-cell-phone-calls-bugs-us-so-much

A new study to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Psychological Science purports to reveal just why overhearing cell phones calls, on the bus, on the subway, or wherever, apparently bother us so much.

The study, by Cornell University, suggests it's not because, as many have noted, many people on cell phones shout into their handsets as their is no sidetone. Rather, the study suggests that human brains simply don't like one-sided conversations.

The study tested 41 college students to see how their results on a series of cognitive tests on a computer were affected by either silence, a monologue, a conversation between two people, and half a conversation (called a "halfalogue," such as overhearing a cell phone call). It was the "halfalogue" which lowered participants' scores on the tests.

The study showed that a one-sided conversation draws more attention and drains concentration from listeners. Researchers believe that we are unable to tune out a "halfalogue" because unlike a monologue to a two-sided conversation, listeners try to make sense out of the half they hear and predict what speakers will say next.

Lauren Emberson is a co-author of the study, along with Michael Goldstein. "When you hear half of a conversation, you get less information and you can't predict as well," she said. "It requires more attention."

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Particularly one-sided conversations that are being conducted at the top of the lungs of

the speaker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry, I cannot discount that aspect of it.

[Warpy]

2. What bothers me is that they YELL

and are generally unaware of much of anything or anyone around them, just what's going on with that damn phone.

I just tune out the half of a banal conversation if they're not yelling and are someplace where they're not colliding with me or anyone else.

[Odin2005]

10. I hate it when they do it in the bookstore!

At the cafe in it, at the table right next to me! :grr:

[Foo Fighter]

60. A few years ago I was in a bookstore and a guy sitting in a chair by me

answered his phone. One of the first things he asked the caller was "Where are you at?" About 30 seconds later, the caller shows up. He was in another section of the (small) bookstore. How damn lazy to you have to be to not take a quick swing through the store to find your buddy? (For the record, the caller was not handicapped in any way. He was a young 20-something that was perfectly capable of walking around the store to find his buddy.) That, to me, represented the epitome of laziness.

[Hannah Bell]

63. try the library. almost every time i go, someone gets a call & chooses to

take it inside. our library is only two rooms, so every patron gets to enjoy the conversation too.

[spooky3]

43. and that they jaywalk, bump into you or block your path at the grocery or sidewalk,

are distracted when driving, etc. It's hazardous enough out there but when people are engrossed in a conversation they are putting others in a position of having to try to anticipate what they are going to do, to avoid damage or danger.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. An easy prediction of what the speaker will say next...

It will almost certainly contain repetitions of the words "like" and "me".

[cherokeeprogressive]

13. Only if the speaker is under 25 years of age. n/t

[Obamanaut]

19. I think we can count on a couple of 'just sayin', and some 'you know'. nt

[Golden Raisin]

4. Could it be that

they are just plain, effing RUDE, have zero manners and think the entire world revolves around them? It's bad enough on buses, trains, etc. but it's happening in elevators now. News bulletin: I don't want to be forced to listen to your boring, goddamn, personal conversation in the great, wide spaces of outdoors, let alone in a small, enclosed space. And it's absolutely true what everyone else says: the unwritten rule seems to be that these egotistical idiots are always yammering triple fortissimo at the top of their lungs.

[dkf]

5. I thought it was rude to listen in on other peoples conversations?

So which bit of rudeness is worse? Maybe the fact that you realize you are being rude bothers you?

[Golden Raisin]

8. I don't want to nor

am I trying to listen in on their conversation. In an elevator (i.e. small, enclosed space) it's being forced on you. Sorry but this rudeness is a one-way street. And whatever happened to, "I'm sorry but I'm in an elevator now and there are other people in here. I'll call you back in a minute."

[dkf]

14. Sometimes you get no privacy. You are in the office with a bunch of people you step into the

Elevator with a bunch of people you sit at the bus stop with a bunch of people you ride the bus with a bunch of people. Even when you go to the bathroom there are people in the next stall.

The only place you have privacy is in your car but you are not supposed to use your cell phone there either.

[WinkyDink]

34. Your personal calls can't wait until you get home, like they USED TO BE?

You can thank your cell-phone for the lack of privacy; phone booths used to offer plenty.

[dkf]

39. Then you wouldn't need a phone because the other person will be standing there.

Mostly people are talking to their SO.

[surrealAmerican]

35. There's no problem with using a cell phone in the car ...

... so long as you're parked.

It would be nice if there were "phone booths" in public places to provide a bit of privacy, but I imagine few people would bother using them.

[dems_rightnow]

16. "I apologize for being rude...."

"and overhearing your conversation".

Nah, that's just stupid. Carry on.

[canetoad]

20. You may very well have

your own portable Cone of Silence to be lowered whenever you need to be immersed in complete quiet. Hell, you may even just have superpowers or bionic ears that you can turn off when there is something you do not wish to hear. If someone starts a chainsaw outside your bedroom window, it it truly advantageous to just make the sound go away. Let me know when that happens.

To the OP, coming home one night on an extremely crowded train, a woman five or six sets of seats away spoke loudly enough to dominate almost half the carriage. I couldn't concentrate on my crossword, other passengers were rolling their eyes.

This woman, from the half conversation that was inflicted (yes, inflicted) on us, was obviously a public servant and was gossiping about supervisors and co-workers. It was possible to identify her department, the building she worked in. If I had paid a little more attention, I could probably have found out more but instead I rose and said loudly, 'I know the people you are talking about (I didn't)and this conversation will be repeated to them.'

Shut her right up.

[dkf]

22. I guess we do have our own cones of silence.

It's called an mp3 player with a nice set of headphones.

[Liberal_in_LA]

23. good for you. These stupid loud conversations have now moved in the women's restrooms

women gab away on the toilet. ugh

[snagglepuss]

27. LOL How very true. I have a very funny story about that.

A tech guy with Vonage was telling me that he was the phone with a customer who told him that she had to use the washroom so he said he would hold expecting her to lay down her phone but she took the phone with her into the bathroom and kept interrupting the conversations with grunts and moans as he was subjected to "background noises".





:rofl:

[Liberal_in_LA]

28. ewwwwwwwwwww. Listening to a call on talk radio I clearly heard the caller flush the toilet

The host said nothing.

[WinkyDink]

32. Are you DAFT? Having noise foisted upon one is not "listen(ing) in on"!

[seabeyond]

49. OMG.... noise foisted upon one? the horrors, lol lol. come on

noise around us all the time. we dont get to tell the world to hush.

i swear if we are not whispering to the person standing next to us, we are daring to foist noise on someone.

surely we are not that sensitive in our world

[seabeyond]

21. rude? rude that someone is making noise around you? i mean, who is thinkin

"think the entire world revolves around them?"

[KamaAina]

6. Try a halfalogue conducted in a foreign tongue of which you know not a syllable

:scared:

[JBoy]

7. I find halfalogues in foreign languages much easier to tune out.

You never process the first part of the conversation. It's just noise.

[customerserviceguy]

24. Exactly

This study would back that up. An unknown foreign language is just noise.

[Odin2005]

9. I HATE THAT!!!

:grr:

[KamaAina]

11. Seriesly, were we separated at birth or something?

:shrug:

[Odin2005]

15. Oh, you were born like, what, 35 years before me?

:P

[KamaAina]

57. So either you're saying you're 10, or else...

..why, I oughta... :spank:

[Odin2005]

58. *RUNS*

[cherokeeprogressive]

12. People are nosy, and cannot stand NOT hearing both sides of a conversation.

A study needed to be commissioned in order to establish that little nugget of fact? Incredible.

"The study suggests that human brains simply don't like one-sided conversations." Because they're fucking NOSY. I could stand in the checkout line at the local supermarket having a conversation with my best friend in a normal tone of voice, and be reasonably assured that it would never be posted about on the internet. Let me do the same thing with a cell phone though, and internet users act as if they expect the whole world to sound like a library.

[Stevenmarc]

17. When it pisses me of I simply contribute the other half of the conversation myself

It's funny how fast someone will wrap up a conversation when the person next to them who didn't ask to be included in the minutiae of their life makes a point of including themselves.

[seabeyond]

18. it doesnt bother me at all, not even a little bet. and i am not a cell phone user.

i see they arent talking to me, talking in the phone, i can put it away and be done with it. if their voice is a bet louder to be heard than normal conversation, so.....

[Kingofalldems]

25. 'And she was like--- and then I was like'

[Lifelong Protester]

26. I am an oldster I guess who thinks that if it is necessary to take a

call, at least try to be discreet about it. If you are not on an organ transplant list, caring for a frail relative (or a dependent child) than can't you please wait until you are at least out of the eleveator? Out of earshot of others? I am annoyed by the constant chatter and am concerned that people have lost the ability to be ALONE, with their own thoughts, and not constantly checking their electronic device for some "gem" of inane information...or continuously talking.

Whatever happened to silence?


Rediscover silence.


Oh, and the word "halfalogue" cracks me up.

[d_r]

29. what I hate is the little blue tooth wireless things

Somebody is standing there and then they just say something. And so I'm like,"I'm sorry, what?" and they are just talking on the phone. I am such a dork. I fall for it every time.

[seabeyond]

31. lol. that one is a little more challenging for me. some stranger talking and i think

maybe they said soemthing to me. not that there is any reason. but there is no phone. and they are talking after all. funny

[pipi_k]

48. Especially if they're having an argument with someone on the other end...

Them: "Fuck you!!!"

"Eat shit, asshole!!!"



Me: "Whaaaaa?????? What the hell did I do NOW????"


:+

[seabeyond]

50. bah hahahha. i havent had that experience. but i hear ya. or phone sex

as you are feeling the avocados..... lol.

[pipi_k]

51. Hahahahah phone sex!!!

Actually, with a cell phone and Blue Tooth device, one could make a pretty good living without having to be tied to the house.

Imagine conducting a phone sex business while doing the grocery shopping or having a pedicure...

:7

[Liberal_in_LA]

37. ..or when they are walking, talking while staring into nothingness with that blank look in the eyes

[proud2BlibKansan]

30. My favorite cell phone incident was at Target a few years ago

The lady in front of me in line at the cashier was talking on her cell phone. The cashier rang up her stuff and told her the total and the lady kept on talking on her cell phone. So the cashier told her a second time what she owed and she STILL kept on talking. The third time the cashier spoke a little louder and the lady pulled the phone away from her ear and said "Can't you see that I am ON THE PHONE?"

So she finally finished her conversation and paid for her merchandise with an irritated look on her face.

I was laughing too hard to be mad. What a doofus. :rofl:

[nichomachus]

33. Bottom line: You are not that important

You do not need to be on your cell phone 36 hours a day. (If you actually are that important, you are excused.) Most cell phone conversations that I (unwillingly) overhear are of the variety. "So, I'm like "okay" and he's Like "okay" and we're both like "okay," okay?" repeated over and over ad nauseum.

[JBoy]

40. Those calls also require describing their current location.

"I'm on the bus downtown", or "I'm at the supermarket".

One time I heard someone lie about where they were, and I almost blurted out "No you're not!"

[Heywood J]

47. "That's a lie, she just came out of Planned Parenthood!"

or the alternative "That's a lie, he just came out of the strip club!" Those work nicely in shutting up loud cell-phone users. Most mics are sensitive to pick up someone a few feet away quite well.

[Taitertots]

41. Practice what you preach

You wanting silence is not as important as the banal conversation I'm having. You are just not more important than everyone else's phone calls.

[nichomachus]

42. I don't want silence -- I join in

"Hey, I really think you should dump him."

"What -- are you listening in on my conversation."

"Oh, you were talking so loud, I though we were all included."

[Taitertots]

44. Trying to beat them at their own game

Being an asshole to punish them because you think they are rude.

[RB TexLa]

36. How about people just mind their own damn business, one sided, three sided or two sided

conversations. There is no way I could care about what a stranger is saying to a cell phone a person or to me.

[Liberal_in_LA]

38. I bet you are a cell phone shouter. this thread is cutting to close to home.

[RB TexLa]

45. No, I use about 20 voice minutes a month. I usually don't answer when it rings

people can speak to the voice mail. I just don't get concerned with what other people are doing around me because what they are doing is none of my business. I don't know when the virtue of minding one's own business stopped being taught to people.

[jp11]

53. Depending on the situation it can be difficult to ignore someone who says something, pauses for the

other person then says something so you as the third party get to listen to a yapper, silence from them, the yapper, etc as opposed to constant yappers you can tune out.

[RB TexLa]

59. It's easy enough for me, I couldn't care what they are saying or how much they are pausing or when

[cherokeeprogressive]

61. ^5! Best post on the thread. n/t

[pipi_k]

46. Well, THIS human brain doesn't mind one-sided conversations as much as it minds

being treated like a non-entity by someone with a cell phone who doesn't CARE that he's:

1. Yelling
2. Saying personal things
3. Acting like he's the only one in the room


I'm a human being.

Don't treat me like I'm a piece of furniture.

[Codeine]

52. This is why I've transitioned to almost 100% texting.

I can communicate freely, privately, and in silence with zero impact on those around me.

[Kolesar]

54. "halfalogue" by Bob Newhart was killer-funny

He even made albums of his material.

[leftyladyfrommo]

55. I just think its irritating. There is enough noise all around w/o that.

I was waiting up at Goodyear one day and a woman sat and talked on her cell phone the whole time. I know that she was just passing the time - its pretty boring up there. But the noise was so distracting and irritating to everyone else around her.

Its just rude.

[Better Today]

56. I'm always amazed that "studies" with, in this case, 41 people are somehow

worthy of "showing" any thing.

[w8liftinglady]

62. I thought I was becoming an old fart-this is incredibly rude

-especially when checking out...I mean,c'mon-hang up for 30 sec-you aren't taking an emergency call.How do I know?Because you loudly proclaim"and he said...and she said.." for everyone to hear.