Comments on: Why do You Turn Down the Radio When You’re Lost?

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 00:07:21 +0000

Another reason for turning the stereo down could be habit. Whenever I’m driving somewhere new and there’s someone else in the car, I’ll ask them to help spot signs etc., so I’ll turn down the stereo so I can hear what they say. Perhaps it becomes habitual to turn down the stereo even if no-one else is in the car?

Another reason is that I turn up the stereo while driving (to counter the noises of driving), so it’s a little too loud when the car is stationary. Thus I turn it down just before I’m about to stop. I do this even when driving into my own street (which I obviously wouldn’t need extra attentional resources to deal with).

None of which says that the cost of divided attention doesn’t also contribute, of course.

By: Dave Bell

Dave Bell — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 21:33:51 +0000

It would seem logical that the reverse may also be true: when students focus on the visual, they listen less acutely. I know when I teach music ensembles, I sometimes must close my eyes to hear detail at its finest detail. Think of the implications for the classroom!

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Tue, 05 Jun 2007 02:11:59 +0000

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By: Nikolas

Nikolas — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 15:28:38 +0000

Sweet

By: Turn the radio down to play better cricket

Turn the radio down to play better cricket — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 23:12:24 +0000

[...] The Sharpbrains blog explains: [...]

By: Alvaro

Alvaro — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 19:58:30 +0000

“I thought that the adolescent had an interesting hypothesis that needed to be tested out.” What a luxury for that adolescent to count on such an open-minded, empirical, ally. Thanks, Neal!

By: Caroline

Caroline — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:35:49 +0000

What a great example! It makes me wonder if headphones playing white noise or something might help him when reading or studying? Classroom lectures will probably always be tough for him, although sitting near the front of the room would help limit visual and audial distractions.

It’s also interesting to note how creative and insightful people are with their own conditions.

Thanks for the comment!

By: Neal Cohen

Neal Cohen — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 19:51:37 +0000

The other day I was working with an adolescent and his family (I am a clinical psychologist). The adolescent has an attention deficit associated with a relative weakness in working memory. Although very intelligent (Full Scale IQ in the Superior range), his academic performance is below average.

He believed that he would be less distractible if he could be blindfolded. The parents protested his â€œsilliness.â€ I thought that the adolescent had an interesting hypothesis that needed to be tested out. I gave him a blindfold that I use when testing sensory-motor function.

Over the next 20 minutes the change in the adolescentâ€™s behavior and the familyâ€™s interaction was astounding. In short, the whole family settled down. It was clear that the adolescent knew from his own experience that his attention (and behavior) would improve if the demands on his attention decreased.

â€œSo, youâ€™re not nuts to turn down the volume when youâ€™re lost. By doing that, you are allowing more of your brain to focus on your mission – to find dinner!â€

By: Why do You Turn Down the Radio When Youâ€™re Lost? « SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 14:06:09 +0000

[...] (Please remember we have moved to a new location. You can find this post in its new location at http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2006/11/11/why-do-you-turn-down-the-radio-when-youre-lost/) In talking about using a cell phone while driving, Steven Yantis, a professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, had this to say: â€œDirecting attention to listening effectively â€˜turns down the volumeâ€™ on input to the visual parts of the brain. The evidence we have right now strongly suggests that attention is strictly limited – a zero-sum game. When attention is deployed to one modality – say, in this case, talking on a cell phone – it necessarily extracts a cost on another modality – in this case, the visual task of driving.â€ [...]