Selective auditory attention

Selective auditory attention, or selective hearing, is a process of the auditory system where an individual selects or focuses on certain stimuli for auditory information processing while other stimuli are disregarded.[1] This selection is very important as the processing and memory capabilities for humans have a limited capacity.[2] When people use selective hearing, noise from the surrounding environment is heard by the auditory system but only certain parts of the auditory information are chosen to be processed by the brain.

Most often, auditory attention is directed at things people are most interested in hearing.[3] Selective hearing is not a physiological disorder but rather it is the capability of most humans to block out sounds and noise. It is the notion of ignoring certain things in the surrounding environment.

  1. ^ Gomes, Hilary; Molholm, Sophie; Christodoulou, Christopher; Ritter, Walter; Cowan, Nelson (2000-01-01). "The development of auditory attention in children". Frontiers in Bioscience (Landmark Edition). 5 (3): 108–120. doi:10.2741/gomes. ISSN 2768-6701. PMID 10702373.
  2. ^ Schneider, Walter; Shiffrin, Richard M. (January 1977). "Controlled and automatic human information processing: I. Detection, search, and attention". Psychological Review. 84 (1): 1–66. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.84.1.1. ISSN 1939-1471.
  3. ^ Bess FH, Humes L (2008). Audiology: The Fundamentals. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.