Content: Hearing Vs Listening
- Comparison Chart
- Definition
- Key Differences
- Conclusion
Comparison Chart
| Meaning | Hearing refers to one's ability to perceive sounds, by receiving vibrations through ears. | Listening is something done consciously, that involve the analysis and understanding of the sounds you hear. |
| What is it? | An ability | A skill |
| Nature | Primary and continuous | Secondary and temporary |
| Act | Physiological | Psychological |
| Involves | Receipt of message through ears. | Interpretation of the message received by ears. |
| Process | Passive bodily process | Active mental process |
| Occurs at | Subconscious level | Conscious level |
| Use of senses | Only one | More than one |
| Reason | We are neither aware nor we have any control over the sounds we hear. | We listen to acquire knowledge and receive information. |
| Concentration | Not required | Required |
Definition of Hearing
The natural ability or an inborn trait that allows us to recognize sound through ears by catching vibrations is called the hearing. In simple terms, it is one of the five senses; that makes us aware of the sound. It is an involuntary process, whereby a person receives sound vibrations, continuously.
A normal human being’s hearing capability ranges from 20 to 20000 Hertz, called as audio or sonic. Any frequency above and below the given range is known as ultrasonic and infrasonic respectively.
Definition of Listening
Listening is defined as the learned skill, in which we can receive sounds through ears, and transform them into meaningful messages. To put simply, it is the process of diligently hearing and interpreting the meaning of words and sentences spoken by the speaker, during the conversation.
Listening is a bit difficult, because it requires concentration and attention, and the human mind is easily distracted. People use it as a technique to comprehend, what is being said, through different verbal and non-verbal signs, i.e. how it is being said? What type of words is used? Tone and pitch of voice, body language and so on.
Active listening is the key element; that makes the communication process effective. Further, it encompasses making sounds that show listener’s attentiveness and providing feedback. It had a greater influence in our lives and used to gain information, learn and understand things and so on.
Difference Between Hearing and Listening
Categories
- HEARING IMPAIRMENT
- Uncategorized
Tags
| Hearing is the act of perceiving sound and receiving sound waves or vibrations through your ear. | Listening is the act of hearing a sound and understanding what you hear. |
| Hearing is one of the five senses and it just happens all the time – whether you like it or not – unless you have a hearing problem | Listening Requires concentration so that your brain processes meaning from words and sentences. |
| Hearing simply happens. | Listening leads to learning. |
| Hearing is a skill where you use your ears only. It one of the five senses. | Listening uses different senses, like the sense of hearing, seeing, or sense of touch. |
| Hearing is an involuntary act where you simply receive vibrations through your ears. | Listening is a skill that lets the sound you hear go through your brain to process the meaning of it. |
| Physiological | Psychological |
| Subconscious level | Conscious level |
| Concentration is not required | Concentration is required |
Summary:
- Hearing and Listening uses both your ears.
- Hearing is receiving sound waves through your ears, while listening means hearing and understanding what you’ve heard.
- Hearing is part of the five senses, while listening is a choice to hear and analyse what you hear.
- Hearing is using your ears only, while listening is using your body’s other senses.
- Listening is observing other’s behavior that can add meaning to the message, while hearing is simply receiving sound vibrations.
- Listening can build better relationships with others, while hearing cannot.
- Take good care of your ears; you cannot listen when you cannot hear.
References: Online
- //www.differencebetween.net/science/nature/difference-between-listening-and-hearing/
- //www.differencebetween.info/difference-between-listening-and-hearing
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Defining hearing vs. listening
The definition of hearing has more to do with the physiological act of hearing sounds than it does with making sense and connecting with the person who’s talking to you.
Merriam-Webster defines hearing as the “process, function, or power of perceiving sound; specifically: the special sense by which noises and tones are received as stimuli.”
Listening, on the other hand, means “to pay attention to sound; to hear something with thoughtful attention; and to give consideration.”
Clinical psychologist Kevin Gilliland, PsyD, says the difference between the two is night and day.
“Hearing is like collecting data,” he explains.
The act of hearing is rather simple and basic. Listening, on the other hand, is three-dimensional. “People that excel at work, or in marriage or friendships, are ones that have honed their ability to listen,” says Gilliland.
Hearing
The dictionary defines hearing as: “the process, function or power of perceiving sound”. When we hear something, we’re aware of the noise or sound it makes, but we don’t necessarily interpret or make sense of it. Hearing is a physiological act; it relates to our physical biology. Sometimes we will hear things subconsciously. It’s not always within our control.
Listening
Listening, on the other hand, is defined as “to pay attention to sound” or “to hear something with thoughtful attention: give consideration”. To listen, we have to interpret the sound(s) that we hear. We pay attention to them, process them, and try to make sense of them. It’s a conscious, psychological process.
Hearing vs Listening
The main difference between hearing and listening is that listening deals with understanding or perceiving the sound waves, which has an in-depth meaning. But this is not the case with the hearing because we are not aware of what has been conveyed.
Listening requires our focus and attention to understand the things which we hear. No effort is put by an individual to hear as it is an involuntary process but it requires effort to listen as this is a voluntary process done by the individual. The brain deciphers and understands the received sound waves and an appropriate decision is taken.
Comparison Table Between Hearing and Listening
| Parameter of Comparison | Hearing | Listening |
| Definition | It refers to the natural ability of an individual to receive and perceive the pressure waves (sound) with the help of ears. | It refers to the conscious process done by the individual on receiving the sound by paying attention and understanding it. |
| Process | Involuntary process (passive). | Voluntary process (active). |
| Characteristics | It is an inherent ability. | It is a skill to be learnt which comes by practice. |
| Paying attention | It is not necessary to pay attention as hearing happens naturally. | It is essential to pay attention as the individual tries to understand and act on what is being heard. |
| Occurs at | It happens in the subconscious state. | It occurs at the conscious state. |
| Nature | Physiological state. | Psychological state. |
Benefits of Listening
Listening should not be taken for granted. Before the invention of writing, people conveyed virtually all knowledge through some combination of showing and telling. Elders recited tribal histories to attentive audiences. Listeners received religious teachings enthusiastically. Myths, legends, folktales, and stories for entertainment survived only because audiences were eager to listen. Nowadays, however, you can gain information and entertainment through reading and electronic recordings rather than through real-time listening. If you become distracted and let your attention wander, you can go back and replay a recording. Despite that fact, you can still gain at least four compelling benefits by becoming more active and competent at real-time listening.