Emberson also said that in such a situation people try to make sense of snippets of conversation and predict what speakers will say next. "When you hear half of a conversation, you get less information and you can't predict as well," she said. "It requires more attention."

艾伯森还称，在这种情况下，人们会试图搞明白只言片语背后的完整含义，并预测说话者接下来要说什么。“当你听到一半对话，信息不充分，让人无法预测，”她说。“这就需要你投入更多的注意力。”

The findings by Emberson and her co-author Michael Goldstein are based on research involving 41 college students who did concentration exercises, like tracking moving dots, while hearing one or both parties during a cellphone conversation. The students made more errors when they heard one speaker's side of the conversation than when they overheard the entire dialogue.

这项研究结果是艾伯森和米歇尔-戈德斯坦在调查了41位大学生后得出的。大学生们被要求做注意力集中测试，比如边听一方（或者是两方）打电话边追踪移动点，结果发现，只听到一方谈话内容的学生要比听到完整对话的学生的出错率高。