Not A Blog™

This has always been an interesting phenomenon to me—not in the least because I do the same thing. If you ask someone a question while they’re in the middle of something else, they will often not “hear” you, and ask you what you said. But if you just wait a few seconds without saying anything, they answer the question anyway. What drove me nuts is that I do it, too, and I could never figure out why. It takes a huge effort not to say “what” after someone asks you a question.

Just a few weeks ago, I finally stumbled across an article that explains why this happens. (Naturally, I didn’t make note of the site or the details of the article to actually point you in the direction.) There was a study done on language, and it turns out there is a specific structure in the brain which is like an ultra-short-term memory module for audio. It can repeat back to you what you just heard, up to about six seconds ago. At first, it doesn’t seem like there would be any use for a function such as that, but it turns out that this is responsible for the “what?—wait—answer” phenomenon.

If someone interrupts you in the middle of work, often you don’t consciously hear them the first time because you’re doing something else, and you reflexively ask for clarification. It takes a second for your brain to switch gears, at which point the ultra-short-term memory repeats what your ears heard the first time, and it becomes conscious. Then you proceed to answer the question.

Weird, huh?

-Pulsar