Getting together with your friends for a group hang can be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, for people with hearing loss, a group environment may present some unexpected challenges.
Some of that difficulty arises from trouble employing a skill called the cocktail party effect.
Understanding the Cocktail Party Effect
The cocktail party effect, so named for its use in noisy situations, helps you isolate and understand one sound amidst several competing ones. An article from the Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology found that people with hearing loss often struggle to use the cocktail party effect. The more advanced your hearing loss is, the more likely your brain is to fuse speech with other background noise into a single sound stream, making it difficult to understand what one person is saying.
While hearing loss can dull the cocktail party effect, there are a few ways you can strengthen your listening skills for better group communication.
How To Strengthen Your Listening Skills
Next time you’re in a group setting, try the following tips to strengthen your listening skills:
- Look directly at the speaker. Looking at the speaker will give you access to visual cues such as lip movements and body language. If you’re in a restaurant, try to grab a round or square table where you can see as many people as possible.
- Try not to talk over one another. The more fun your group is having, the more likely it is that you’ll all start talking over one another. If you notice everyone is yelling at once, politely ask the group to take turns speaking so you can better understand everyone.
- Wear two hearing aids. Wearing two hearing aids creates a more natural hearing experience. By working together, your devices can make it easier to identify the direction of sound, allowing you to locate the speaker more easily.
- Move locations. If you want to catch up with friends that you haven’t seen in a while, consider meeting at a quiet location. Parks, restaurants and coffee shops outside busy hours and even your house, are all great options.
If you’re struggling to keep up in group conversations, contact Olympic Hearing & Balance for a hearing test or hearing aid appointment. We can help you find the best path forward so you can get back to enjoying time with your friends.
Sources
Reiss, L. A., & Molis, M. R. (2021). An alternative explanation for difficulties with speech in background talkers: Abnormal fusion of vowels across fundamental frequency and ears. Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, 22, 443–461. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-021-00790-7