Have you ever experienced this: You walk into a crowded room and all you can hear is the jumbled sounds of all the voices mingling together. But when you find a friend and start a conversation, the voices around you seem to dim and you’re able to hear your friend. This phenomenon is known as The Cocktail Party Effect.

However, it doesn’t always work like that. In many high-noise environments, it can be difficult for people to filter out background noise and tune in to a conversation. Using two-way communication devices ensures that everyone can focus on and clearly hear important information.

What Is the Cocktail Party Effect?

The Cocktail Party Effect is actually an ability people have to focus on a single voice among many or a single voice in a noisy environment. The effect was first researched and described in the 1950s by a British scientist named Colin Cherry.

Cherry’s study consisted of playing two different messages at the same time to people under various conditions. In early experiments, Cherry played two messages voiced by the same speaker through both ears on a set of headphones. He asked participants to write down one of the messages. Most were able to do this with a lot of effort and after hearing the messages multiple times.

In later experiments, Cherry again played two messages voiced by the same speaker to participants through headphones. However, this time one message was played through the left earphone and the second message was played through the right earphone. Surprisingly, participants could separate the messages to focus on one and even shift their focus between the two messages.

So, under certain conditions the brain can focus on one sound. However, there is a downside.

The brain doesn’t always focus on the sound it should. If one sound is louder than the others, it is easier to focus there. If you’re having a conversation but hear something more interesting being discussed nearby, your brain may shift focus to that instead. The brain absorbs very little information from the sound or speech that is rejected.

Everyone experiences this phenomenon to some degree – people with normal hearing and those with hearing loss. The Cocktail Party Effect is a form of selective hearing and a natural function of the brain.

How Does Selective Hearing Work?

Many people use the term “selective hearing” as a negative thing, suggesting that a person only hears what they want to. But that’s not exactly what selective hearing is or how it works.

Any time you focus on what a single person is saying in a crowded room or you “tune out” other sounds around you, you are practicing selective hearing. This is different from purposely ignoring someone.

Selective hearing is an important part of the way the brain functions and is usually an unconscious process that happens when a person is trying to focus on a sound.

Selective hearing isn’t a negative thing at all! It’s actually a type of defense mechanism that protects the brain from receiving too many sounds. We need it to help us focus on and make sense of all the important sounds around us on a daily basis.

There are some environments, however, where selective hearing doesn’t always work as it should. In chaotic sound environments with many different noises, the brain may struggle to choose a focus. It’s also more difficult to selectively hear when the person speaking is far away or obscured. Visual cues like hand gestures and seeing the speaker’s lips helps the brain focus on the sound.

Negative Consequences of High Noise Environments

Everyone’s brain, even those with normal hearing, has to work hard in noisy environments to hear, filter, decode, and understand all the incoming sounds. Straining to hear and focus on one speaker can have some negative consequences.

A recent study suggests that noise-induced stress might decrease dopamine levels in the prefrontal cortex, which controls the flow of information to and from parts of the body. This makes it even harder to focus and can also affect a person’s comprehension and memory.

These findings are supported by another study that evaluated participants’ attention and mental workload in various levels of noise exposure. The study found that visual attention, auditory attention, and mental workload are all significantly decreased in noise environments around 95 decibels (equivalent to the sound of a food processor or a subway train).

Benefits of a Two-Way Communication System

Sometimes it’s crucial that people can focus on a speaker, ask questions, and have discussions in noisy environments. Factory tours, conferences, outdoor events, large tour groups, academic classrooms, and training sessions are a few examples.

In these situations, using two-way communication devices devices in conjunction with a headset microphone and ear speaker ensures that everyone can be heard clearly. It also reduces the ambient noise so that everyone can focus on and hear important information, despite background noise.

Everyone can benefit from this advanced hearing solution including those with normal hearing, hearing loss or impairments, and auditory processing disorders. The brain doesn’t have to work as hard when using the audio system and users can more easily focus, understand, and retain information being conveyed, as well as participate in the activity.

A two-way communication device can help the brain focus on important sounds, as well as:

• Increase engagement.
• Reduce stress and frustration.
• Allow clear hearing from any distance.
• Lessen shouting and vocal strain for speakers.
• Enhance hearing in any sound environment.
• Empower participants to ask questions and have conversations.

If you’re interested in how a two-way communication system can provide clear hearing in your high-noise environment, contact Tripp Communications Systems to meet with a professional consultant and schedule a free demo of the solution that best fits your needs.