Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Moray (1959): cognitive - Coggle Diagram
Moray (1959): cognitive
Aims
- aimed to test Cherry's findings that we can only listen to one message at a time
-
Sample
- both genders, undergraduates
- two groups of 14 participants (38) opportunity sampling
Method
-
IV
- dichotic listening test and recognition test
- whether or not instructions started with the participants own name
- whether the participants had to answer questions about the shadowed message at the end of each passage or whether participants had to remember all the numbers they could.
DV
- number of words recognised correctly in the rejected message
- number of affective instructions
- numbers of digits correctly repeated
-
Procedure
- A short list of simple words were repeatedly presented to one of the participants ears, whilst they shadowed a prose message to the other ear. Word 'list' was repeated 35 times- this was the 'rejected' message.
The participant was then asked to report all they could remember of the content of the 'rejected' message (how many words they could remember). they were given a recognition- 7 words were from the 'rejected' word list and 7 similar words present in neither of the lists or the passage, as a control.
- Conducted to find out if the 'block' set up while shadowing one message can be broken down if the material in the rejected message is important to the participant. Participants listened to two passages of light fiction which were played at the same time, one passage in each ear.
In some of the passages, instructions were included, but in two instances the participants were not warned of these. In half the cases, instructions started with the participants own name.
The passages were read in a monotone steady voice at 130 words per minute. participants responses were tape-recorded and later analysed.
- Experiment 2 indicated that people pay attention to a rejected message when they hear something important to them. Experiment 3 tested this point further. Two groups of 14 ppts shadowed one of two simultaneous dichotic messages. .
In some of the messages digits were included towards the end of the message. These were sometimes present in both messages, sometimes only in one. One group of 14 were told that they would be asked questions about the content of the shadowed message at the end of each message, the other group were specifically instructed to remember all the numbers they could.
Results
- Very few words from the 'rejected' message were recognised. The difference between the new material and that from the shadowed message was significant. The 30 second delay was unlikely to have caused the rejected message being lost because words from early in the shadowed message were recognised.
- Most participants ignored the instructions that were given in the passages they were shadowing and said they thought it was an attempt to distract them. On only 4/20 occasions in which the names instructions were heard did the ppts make a change to the other message.
- The difference between the mean number of digits reported under two conditions were analysed. There was no significant difference between the number of digits recalled if ppts were told they would be asked questions.
Conclusions
- Moray states; "in a situation where a participant directs their attention to the reception of the reception of a message from one ear and rejects a message from another ear, almost none of the verbal content of the rejected message is able to penetrate the block set up.
- Subjectively 'important' messages such as a persons own name or interests can penetrate the block.
- While perhaps not impossible, it is very difficult to make 'neutral' material important enough to break the block set up in dichotic listening.
Background
Broadbent (1958) believed that humans selectively pay attention to some information and 'tune-out' the rest.