Why Overheard Cell Phone Chats Are Annoying

Posted by timothy on Thursday May 20, 2010 @10:26AM from the they-drown-out-the-bark-of-my-gun dept.

__roo writes "American researchers think they have found the answer to the question of why overhearing cell phone chats are annoying. According to scientists at Cornell University, when only half of the conversation is overheard, it drains more attention and concentration than when overhearing two people talking. According to one researcher, 'We have less control to move away our attention from half a conversation (or halfalogue) than when listening to a dialogue. Since halfalogues really are more distracting and you can't tune them out, this could explain why people are irritated.' Their study will be published in the journal Psychological Science."

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Re:Backwards by cpirius · 2010-05-20 11:01 · Score: 5, Informative

It does not say that overhearing half a conversation takes more concentration then having a conversation yourself, it says that overhearing half a conversation takes more concentration than overhearing both sides of a conversation.