Observations and results
Did the statement you whispered change a lot during its journey? Very often the differences from the original are so great that people laugh. In real life, of course, miscommunication can be more frustrating than funny. This frustration might come from the belief that communication is straightforward, even though, as we have learned in this activity it is not.
The world is full of distractions, both external and internal. No one can control all of them at any given moment. Moreover, everybody’s brain is different—in how it works and in the information and experiences it has collected. Thus, what you think you are saying may mean something quite different to someone else—particularly if you start in the middle of a thought, choose a wrong word or speak too quickly. Speakers make one or more of these mistakes quite often—and worse, rarely realize when they do.
Once you realize the obstacles to communication, you will be far more understanding when it fails—as well as able to communicate more effectively by averting common errors. Think about what is going on at the moment: Does the other person appear to be distracted? If you need to repeat yourself, don't be annoyed. Repetition, as you may have learned from the above activity, is a good strategy for making sure you are understood. Another tactic is simplicity. See if a bare-bones message will suffice, at least for now, but don't leave out background or critical details!
More to explore
Active Listening: The Telephone Game (pdf) from Peer Education
He Said, She Said from Scientific American MIND
Where Are the Talking Robots? from Scientific American MIND
How to Play Telephone from eHow
Your Memory Is Like the Telephone Game from Northwestern University
Stress Relief Can Be the Key to Success in School from Scientific American MIND
Schools Add Workouts for Attention, Grit and Emotional Control from Scientific American MIND
Hands in the Air: How Gesturing Helps Us to Think from Scientific American MIND
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12 Comments
Add CommentWith the advent of smart phones and the like, I think more people would like to give up communication completely in favor of some form of electronic redirection circuitry. Not caring is the biggest barrier to communication that exists. The abuse that language suffers, from legal misdirection to political vagary is the best excuse available.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf you are going to 'whisper', no doubt the information that you are trying to pass on is going to get much more distorted. When we want to be truly listened to I doubt that we are going to engage in whispering.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think that's nearer most communication issues than people not hearing... people have become extremely self centered and technology excuses and perpetuates it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSorry, that was supposed to be a reply to WRQ9. Communication issues!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisScientists engaged in research from public funding should be more careful in listening from public medias for better utilization of their fund.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's been a while since I was in school, but doesn't twelve words exceed the limitations (7 plus or minus 2 chunks) of working memory?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAlso, I agree with Anju1's comment about whispering.
The article merely touched on communications difficulties and the little experiment did no more than illustrate the trivial nature of what the article was actually talking about without addressing important issues.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA sentence of at least 12 words? Okay, this is little more than a more easily remembered random number memory test.
Failure to communicate is not failure to hear or remember idea fragments.
A significant Scientific Amerian article about the basics of playing "telephone"? What's the world coming to?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRight, and the Milgram experiment was about flicking switches.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisParents of small children are the worst at not listening. I could be telling my daughter-in-law that I have 2-weeks to live and if one of her kids said something, her attention would immediately be directed away from me.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFrankly I believe the younger generations are too self-centered and arrogant to listen to anyone.
to Grumpyoleman: Don't know how old you are but from my experience over 4 decades, the problem isn't arrogance or self-centered - ness. Its old, crotchety morons like yourself who come into conversations with preconcieved ideas about how things are going to go. And you will look for the examples you want, disregarding other, more pertinant information. Check the mirror. Probably just another example of the pot calling the kettle black.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHow about people "misunderstanding" purely due to listener preconceptions and assumptions?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this