Jj is for Jottings 118.  Hearing versus Listening.

Consider hearing versus listening: hearing and listening both involve the ears, but hearing is just the first step in the listening process.  Let’s compare the two.

HEARING.

Hearing is one of the senses, i.e. the ability to perceive sounds by receiving vibrations through ears.  It is an automatic response to sound.  We hear incidental sounds around us all the time, such as aeroplanes, lawnmowers, sounds of food preparation in the kitchen. Unless we have a reason to do otherwise, we train ourselves to ignore these sounds. We learn to filter out sounds that mean little to us, just as we choose to hear our ringing cell phones and other sounds which are more important to us.  Of course, the same sound may vary in importance.  If you were hungry, you would certainly tune in to the kitchen sounds, but would probably ignore them at other times.

LISTENING.

Listening is a skill, which involves the analysis and understanding of the sounds you hear.  It is purposeful and focused rather than accidental. As a result, it requires motivation and effort. At its best, listening is active, focused, concentrated attention for the purpose of understanding the meanings expressed by a speaker.

Of course, we don’t listen only to speech.  For example, yesterday I heard the hens all squawking.  So I began to actively listen, to see if there were any other noises which might explain the cacophony.  (I also began to actively head outside to go and see what was happening.)  Part of the active listening process involved formulating theories in my head as to what might have caused what I heard.  Was a bird of prey bothering them?  Could there be a fox?  Unlikely, since the alpacas are in the paddock behind.  (If you want to read about alpacas as herd protectors, see the introduction to Aa is for Alpacas.)

So, as far as hearing was concerned, there was just the noise of squawking hens.  The listening part involved so much more than that.  Listening is the next step beyond hearing.

And the end to the squawking story?  Rather a let-down, I’m afraid.  I arrived at the orchard gate to find one of the cats pouncing on something outside the fence.  Every hen was looking in exactly the same direction as each other inside the fence.  However, they weren’t looking at the cat, but a bit further along.  Maybe he had pounced on whatever it was (probably a skink or a mouse) where they were all peering, giving them a fright.  Then perhaps he had moved further along in his pursuit of whatever it was and the hens were all still focused on the cause of the fright.  Or maybe it had nothing whatsoever to do with Shikha pouncing on an unknown creature.  Whatever it was, it seems to have escaped.  As long as there was no danger to cat or hens, I didn’t mind.

Postscript.

On the day that I wrote the above, I couldn’t see any of the hens when I went to feed them a while after the incident.  Eventually I found them all, squidged into tiny hiding places in the shed.  They had obviously been terrified, and it was difficult to coax them out to put them safely into their pen.  Today they didn’t come out from their inner sanctum where they perch for the night – obviously still frightened.  Usually they are lined up at the gate, waiting for breakfast and freedom.  I opened the gate, scattered food in the pen and went for a half-hour walk.

Going straight back to check them when I returned, I found the culprit.  There was a bird of prey on the ground just near where the hens often shelter during the day.  Of course it flew off immediately, too quickly for me to identify it.  It turns out that one of the hens, Raggedy Ann, was cowering under the yellow jasmine, less than a metre away.  I suspect she had been the target on that occasion.  It took me ages to find the hens and lock them securely back into their pen.  They’ll have to stay locked in for a few days until – I hope – the bird gives up in disgust and goes hunting elsewhere.

And Later That Same Day….

And then a few hours later I heard Geisha giving alarm calls.  Once again I went out to investigate and she and the other alpacas were all looking into a corner, as were next door’s sheep.  So far, I haven’t discovered what that problem was.  All I can say is, it’s just as well for our animals that I have good hearing, and am prepared to follow up with active listening and investigation.  My hearing-impaired husband remains blissfully unaware of all such occurrences.

HEARING VERSUS LISTENING: KEY DIFFERENCES.

Here is a summary of the key differences between hearing and listening:

1. An individual’s ability to perceive sounds, by receiving vibrations through ears, is called hearing. Listening is something done consciously, that involves the analysis and understanding of the sounds you hear.
2. The first stage is hearing, and it is continuous (even if you choose to ignore the sounds). Listening is the next stage, and is temporary.  We can’t continuously pay attention to something for hours at a time.
3. Hearing is physiological, i.e. one of our senses. On the contrary, listening is a psychological (conscious) act.
4. Whilst hearing is a passive bodily process which does not involve use of the brain, listening is an active mental process. This involves the use of the brain to draw meaning from words and sentences and other sounds.
5. Hearing involves receipt of the message through ears. Listening involves interpretation of the message received by ears.
6. The inborn ability is hearing; the learned skill is listening.
7. When hearing, we are not necessarily aware of the sounds that we receive. However, when listening we are completely aware of what the speaker is saying.
8. Hearing involves the use of only one sense i.e. ears. In contrast, listening involves the use of more than one sense i.e. eyes, ears, touch etc. to understand the message completely and accurately.
9. Hearing does not require focus whereas listening does.

WHAT IF YOU HAVE A HEARING PROBLEM?

Hearing loss has far-reaching effects on children’s speech,language and literacy.  You can also find information about fluctuating hearing loss and unilateral hearing loss.  Naturally, when it is difficult to hear, you may find it too much of a strain to bother listening, and just switch off.  This is discussed in the above articles in relation to children.

Living with an adult with hearing loss, I perceive that it can be exhausting to work to discriminate speech sounds (i.e. the hearing part) before one has even got to the listening aspects.  The result is frequent switching off because it’s all too much bother.

More importantly, recent research reveals that there is a link between hearing loss and developing dementia.  There seems to be an increased risk of dementia when there is onset of hearing loss in midlife.  Researchers aren’t yet sure of the reasons why, but my bet is that it is related to neuroplasticity.  The parts of the brain which should be stimulated by sound are “underused”, and connections between different areas of the brain suffer as a result.  That’s my theory, anyway.

In the next article we will go into more aspects of listening, including nonlistening.

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