ng aural stimuli. Sound waves are received by the ear and stimulate neurological impulses to the brain. Next we place these sounds in a meaningful order or sequence so that they may be recognized as words. Third, we recognize words in a pattern that constituted a language, which then helps to convey the message from the communicator to us (Brooks 82).Another major factor in peoples difficulty to maintain effective listening is the speakers rate. According to a study done by Blain Goss, the average speakers rate is between 100 and 150 words per minute (Goss 91). Our brain often utilizes this free time to daydream and not truly focus on the issue at hand. Unfortunately, when you stop talking, you sometimes start arguing mentally as another way maintains your viewpoint.Arguing mentally is like talking to yourself very, very quietly, just loud enough to keep you from listening to someone else. The second step the in enhancing verbal communication is to stop arguing mentally and seriously consider whats going on as it is happening moment by moment. Do not reflect, for thats old news. Do not start imagining, for thats somewhere that doesnt exist yet. Understand whats going on now-right now (Adler 16)!Attention, the next element within the listening process deals largely with the amount of concentration on a speakers words. Humans utilize selective attention during their everyday communication. Selective attention occurs when we attend to a certain amount of stimuli while filtering out others (Tubbs and Moss 143). A widely recognized study, called the cocktail party problem (Bostrom 11) deals directly with the use of selective attention during a party. The test uses a party scene where numerous conversations occur simultaneously. The researchers study how the subject attends to one conversation at a time, while tuning out all others.Another issue in determining the attention level is threshold. A threshold is the minimum level of stimulus inte...
