Memory,Cognitive Processing,and the Process of “Listening” A Reply to Thomas and Levine

In a recent issue of Human Communication Research, Thomas and Levine (1994) explored the “listening” construct, examining listening from both a cognitive and behavioral point of view. In so doing, they made several inaccurate statements about my own research and positions that I have taken concerning listening. Linear models of memory (first short-term memory, then intermediate storage, then long-term memory) do not describe listening. What I have written in the past is that, like memory, listening has short-term and long-term elements, that listening research ought to examine short-term processing more carefully than before, and that any general definition of listening ought to include all elements, including long-term elements. Additional misstatements appear concerning the role of memory in the assessment of listening. In addition to these misstatements, they ignored some extremely important constructs in listening, principally that of listener involvement. In addition, the model that they present as a causal explanation for listening behaviors has several serious flaws. Nonetheless, in focusing on some nonverbal indicators of listening, they have made a real contribution to the understanding of listening as a communication skill.