Half a chat found to be truly annoying
Source: Agencies |
May 22, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
EVER wonder why overhearing a cell phone conversation is so annoying? American researchers think they have found the answer.
Whether it is the office, on a train or in a car, only half of the conversation is overheard which drains more attention and concentration than when overhearing two people talking, according to scientists at Cornell University.
"We have less control to move away our attention from half a conversation (or halfalogue) than when listening to a dialogue," said Lauren Emberson, a co-author of the study that will be published in the journal Psychological Science.
"Since halfalogues really are more distracting and you can't tune them out, this could explain why people are irritated," she said.
Last year Americans spent 2.3 trillion minutes chatting on mobile phones, according to the US wireless trade association CTIA -- a ninefold increase since 2000.
Worldwide, there are about 4.6 billion cell phone subscribers, according to the International Telecommunications Union, a UN agency. The number is equal to about two-thirds of the world's population, leaving few corners of the globe where public spaces are free of mobile-tethered babblers.
China has the most cell phone users with 634 million, followed by India with 545 million and the United States with 270 million, figures from the US Central Intelligence Agency show.
Emberson said people try to make sense of snippets of conversation and predict what speakers will say next.
The findings by Emberson and her co-author Michael Goldstein are based on research involving 41 college students who did concentration exercises.
The tests included tracking moving dots, while hearing one or both parties during a cellphone conversation.
Whether it is the office, on a train or in a car, only half of the conversation is overheard which drains more attention and concentration than when overhearing two people talking, according to scientists at Cornell University.
"We have less control to move away our attention from half a conversation (or halfalogue) than when listening to a dialogue," said Lauren Emberson, a co-author of the study that will be published in the journal Psychological Science.
"Since halfalogues really are more distracting and you can't tune them out, this could explain why people are irritated," she said.
Last year Americans spent 2.3 trillion minutes chatting on mobile phones, according to the US wireless trade association CTIA -- a ninefold increase since 2000.
Worldwide, there are about 4.6 billion cell phone subscribers, according to the International Telecommunications Union, a UN agency. The number is equal to about two-thirds of the world's population, leaving few corners of the globe where public spaces are free of mobile-tethered babblers.
China has the most cell phone users with 634 million, followed by India with 545 million and the United States with 270 million, figures from the US Central Intelligence Agency show.
Emberson said people try to make sense of snippets of conversation and predict what speakers will say next.
The findings by Emberson and her co-author Michael Goldstein are based on research involving 41 college students who did concentration exercises.
The tests included tracking moving dots, while hearing one or both parties during a cellphone conversation.
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