

"Only 25% of the cell phone users had noticed the clown" - MikeCapone
http://www.theness.com/neurologicablog/?p=1103

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DenisM
My theory is that poor sound fidelity makes our brains work in over-drive
doing speech recognition on the cell phone. The same patter-recognition
circuits are not therefore available to for other work, leaving things
undetected.

In particular I find it much easier to talk over skype compared to cell phone.

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silentOpen
A major factor is the lack of context. When the people conversing are
colocated, they share a context and their conversation respects their context.
When the people conversing are talking over data pipes, they do not share
context and their conversation subsequently does not respect the context.

For example, when I am a passenger in a car, I typically pause the
conversation momentarily if the driver is trying to change lanes or exit the
freeway. If I'm walking down the street with a friend, I might pause and stare
at a clown instead of dumping a constant stream of audio into my friend's ear.

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MikeCapone
> For example, when I am a passenger in a car, I typically pause the
> conversation momentarily if the driver is trying to change lanes or exit the
> freeway. If I'm walking down the street with a friend, I might pause and
> stare at a clown instead of dumping a constant stream of audio into my
> friend's ear.

I think you've nailed it there. It's also about expectations. If you're
driving and you suddenly stop speaking (because you need more attention on the
road for whatever reason), you know your passengers will understand. But if
you're speaking on the phone, you know it will appear weird, so you don't do
it (at least not as much)

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mrshoe
I'd like to see more studies related to increased attentiveness while
listening to music. All through high school I played tetris on my calculator
during class. I swear I could absorb more information while playing tetris
than while not playing tetris.

The only explanation I could ever imagine is that a small part of my mind was
tied up thinking about the game, so I was less prone to day dream while
playing. However, I had played so much that I didn't really have to think
about it any more, so enough of my brain was free to process what the teacher
was saying.

This study indicates that something similar is going on while listening to
music. I think this could be a powerful discovery.

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weaksauce
I remember reading a study done about doodlers and their retention rates. The
study found that people who doodle when listening had a higher retention rate
of the information. I cannot remember where I read it so I don't know how
rigorous the study was though. But this seems in line with your anecdotal
evidence.

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edd
There is currently an advertising campaign using the 'BasketBall
Demonstration' running in London to make people more aware of cyclists while
driving: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahg6qcgoay4>

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PebblesRox
Even though I knew what I was looking for, I didn't see the bear the first
time! (I was still trying to keep track of the passes.) I find I tend to be
good at tuning out distractions when I'm reading or making something (either
physically or on the computer). I wonder if people who see the bear/gorilla
are more easily distracted than those who miss it.

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chrischen
I often find listening to music while I work increases my focus and
productivity.

Have they done comparison of attention with phone held up to ear and hands
free? Seems like hands free can simulate talking to a passenger, which is
shown to not be as distracting. But I'm thinking the distraction from a phone
may come from the anxiety of knowing you have to a) hang up, b) don't want to
keep the person on the other line waiting so you attend to them more.

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req2
Music has been found to have some deleterious effects on productivity.

via Eliezer Yudkowsky, since I can't find the study itself right now: "I don't
listen to music while working, because of studies showing that, e.g.,
programmers listening to music are equally competent at implementing a given
algorithm, but much less likely to notice that the algorithm's output is
always equal to its input."

<http://lesswrong.com/lw/16d/working_mantras/>

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chrischen
Actually I'd like to add that this only works if I'm in the mood for it. But I
feel the reason it increases productivity is because it keeps myself from
thinking and finding other distracting things to do. The music I guess is a
less distracting distraction. Obviously it may have varying effects depending
on the person, and I have no doubt that for a person who has no problem
focusing, music, unless classical, would probably have a deleterious effect.

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tolmasky
I would be very curious to know whether listening to music has less
distracting effects as listening to say, NPR for instance. Also, whether music
with lyrics is more distracting than music without lyrics. In other words,
does the distraction increase the closer you get to "conversation".

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chaosmachine
I suspect music with lyrics affects a different part of your brain than
conversation. Especially if it's music you're familiar with (ie: you're
probably not actively interpreting the lyrics).

On a related note, people who stutter can often sing perfectly fine.

