Scientists have discovered that to hear half a conversation impairing more than a discussion in which we hear “lines” of both parties.

Irritation we feel when someone near us talking on the phone is related to cognitive mechanisms specific to our brain, discovered specialists at Cornell University, University of Wisconsin and University of California (USA). Their study results were published in the journal Psychological Science.

Experiments on volunteers have shown that when they heard “half a conversation” on the phone carried by a person nearby, they get results much more poorly on tests that required concentration than if you hear a full conversation.

Experts believe that our way of functioning innate forces, simply to hear what the brain hears, a full conversation it quickly clear up the one who hears about the meaning and gives the possibility to ignore it, if the subject is not interesting him.

Instead, the meaning of a conversation heard “half” often remains often unclear and the one who hears come – against his will – to focus on her involuntary trying to realize what it is, and this it distracts from their occupations.