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To read or listen… What was the question?

I enjoy listening to podcasts in spare moments in my day; I also make a point of scanning my phone apps for interesting essays that might inspire me to create my own. But, I have to say I had not really considered which modality, if either, would be the most informative, the most influential in analysing the information it contained. I mean if the same information were contained in both a podcast and a written essay, there should be no difference, right? Well, according to an essay published on the subject (from APA: the American Psychological Association)[i] there seems to be a difference in the way each of them is processed.

First of all it would be a good idea to establish the different ways of processing information. Intuitive thinking is rapid processing, where it is important to make a quick judgement with minimal detailed reflection about it -is there danger when you’re being accosted by a stranger on the street, for example. Analytic thinking, on the other hand, requires more detailed and careful analysis of the situation before making a decision: recognizing and avoiding a scam, for instance.

But come on, eh? Do I really have to choose between listening and reading to judge the quality or veracity of its information? Well, although nothing is woven in steel, it depends on how attentive you are to the information. If I hear someone telling me something on the radio, or being interviewed on TV, I likely wouldn’t have the ability to replay a point about which I was initially sceptical and wanted to check that I had heard it correctly; with something written though, I could review the paragraph, and parse the context, or the possible meanings more critically to decide whether or  not to accept it.

Okay, I suppose that makes sense for an old codger like I’m told I have become, but for those with younger, quicker minds, surely it’s more theoretical than actual. I mean, I could be swayed by the voice, or the personality of the speaker, but I could also be swayed by the grammar and choice of punctuation, or whatever, in the essay. I think it’s more of a draw, myself.

Still, I have to say that I appreciate the ability to reread something I find difficult to understand, or to clarify a word that seems out of place rather than relying on the hope that my increasingly burdened memory had heard the issue correctly. I’d like to think that by reading something, I can more easily analyse it at my leisure.

One hypothesis offered in the article to defend the ‘better’ processing of an idea that is read and not just heard was interesting, I thought: it depends on how people acquire language. ‘Children typically learn to speak their native tongue early, spontaneously and effortlessly. In other words, intuitively. In contrast, learning to read is less spontaneous. It happens later, in a formal setting, and it requires a lot of effort and practice. So, hearing language and reading it engage different mental processes from the very beginning.’ Clever, eh?

If true, then it calls into question, as the essay points out, whether the information from a digital voice assistant would be as useful as reading an answer from a Google synopsis on the screen. Or whether polling is more accurate if done by questions in writing than by a voice on the phone. I hadn’t thought about it like that, I have to admit.

I was in a supermarket the other day, and as I was walking down an aisle carrying only a basket in my hand, I saw a woman standing behind her full shopping cart muttering more to the canned goods in front of her than to herself. As I got closer, though, I saw that she was complaining to her phone, not to the items on the shelf.

I moved closer, pretending I was searching for a particular product, being careful that my eavesdropping was not completely obvious.

“You told me they were on sale, Betty,” she complained to the picture on her phone. “Here, see?” she said as she tilted the screen so her friend could see the prices written on the shelf. She turned up the speakerphone volume so she could hear Betty’s reply -so the whole aisle could hear it, actually.

“Yes, Marta. They were on sale yesterday when I was in there.”

 “That’s why I came here,” Marta whined, as if she wouldn’t have bought the cart-load of other groceries if she hadn’t been given false information by her friend.

I could hear a grocery store flyer, or something, that Betty was rustling into the phone as she talked. “See,” she added, holding the paper to her screen. “It says three cans for $5.00, eh? So what are they charging today…?” She seemed to be squinting into her screen.

“Well, there are only 2 cans left, Betty,” Marta continued, complaining as if it were all Betty’s fault. “But now they’ve stuck a new a sign over the old  one saying they’re charging $1.68 each…”

I could hear Betty doing some basic mathematics in the background. “So, for two of them, it’ll cost you $3.36… Take ‘em, eh? It’s almost the same price per can, for goodness sakes…” Her voice sounded exasperated.

“But that’s not how much you told me they were advertised for,” Marta almost shouted.

I could hear Betty sighing loudly over the phone. “Well, I told you about the flyer, Marta, and you showed me the new sign on the shelf. Sometimes print trumps voice, eh?”

“Hmmph,” was Marta’s immediate answer. She obviously hadn’t read the APA study. Suddenly I could see Marta scowl at the screen of her phone. “So how many did you buy yesterday, Betty…? A whole bunch I bet, eh?”

“There were a whole bunch on the shelf -like I told you, they were selling at 3 for $5 then, remember?”

Unmollified, Marta considered that for a moment. “I figure you owe me some money then, eh Betty?”

Betty seemed to think about it for a moment. “Tell you what, why don’t I meet you downtown for a coffee?”

“You buying?”

I couldn’t hear Betty’s reply, but maybe Marta had accidentally hit the wrong button, because she started shaking the phone angrily, then grabbed the two cans from the shelf, threw them in the cart and pushed past me on the aisle.

I was curious about what Betty had said and wondered if I should follow Marta out of the store to find out. But I had more groceries to buy, and more bargains listed on my flyer to investigate.

[i]https://psyche.co/ideas/do-you-think-more-clearly-when-reading-or-when-listening

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