Research by Lauren Emberson, an assistant professor of psychology at Princeton University, has found that we are more distracted, and our cognitive performance more impaired, when we overhear what she calls a “halfalogue” than when we catch both sides of an in-person dialogue. When we hear only half of a conversation, it’s more difficult to predict when the speaker will pause or resume talking, and what that person will say to their unheard-by-us conversational partner.
Overheard
