What Cocktail Parties Teach Us

Melinda Beck writer for the WSJ dives into what is known as the "cocktail party effect".  This is the ability in which people are able to focus on one conversation while being aware of conversations going on around them. Researchers say we can train our brains to maximize this kind of awareness.


Via her piece here

• "We largely see what we expect to see," says Daniel Simons, one of the study's creators and now a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois. As he notes in his subsequent book, "The Invisible Gorilla" (co-authored with Christopher Chabris), the more attention a task demands, the less attention we can pay to other things in our field of vision. That's why pilots sometimes fail to notice obstacles on runways and radiologists may overlook anomalies on X-rays, especially in areas they aren't scrutinizing.
• That's the real danger of distracted driving, experts say. "You regularly hear people say as long as your hands are on the wheel and your eyes are on the road, you're fine. But that's not true," Mr. Simons says.
• Studies over the past decade at the University of Utah show that drivers talking on hands-free cellphones are just as impaired as those on hands-held phones because it is the conversation, not the device, that is draining their attention. Those talking on any kind of cellphone react more slowly and miss more traffic signals than other motorists.
• Some people can train themselves to pay extra attention to things that are important—like police officers learn to scan crowds for faces and conductors can listen for individual instruments within the orchestra as a whole.
• And the Utah researchers have identified a rare group of "super-taskers"—as estimated 2.5% of the population—who seem able to attend to more than one thing with ease.
• Many more people think they can effectively multitask, but they are really shifting their attention rapidly between two things and not getting the full effect of either, experts say.

PAY ATTENTION | How to stay in the zone

• Recognize your limitations. The brain can only fully attend to one thing at a time.
• Make your senses work together. If you're trying to listen to someone in a noisy room, look directly at the speaker.
• Focus on what's important. Many professions—from pilots to police officers—depend on keen powers of observation. Training and practice help. But experts say things like chess and videogames likely won't expand your overall attention skills.
• Allocate blocks of time to specific tasks. Sometimes a deadline can force people to focus.
• Avoid distracted driving. Don't talk on a cellphone, text or give voice commands while at the wheel.