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Less blinking may mean more active listening

 

 

Blinking is something we do automatically, without thinking. We blink 15–20 times a minute. There are several reasons why we blink. One is to stop our eyes from becoming dry. This helps our vision. Another reason is to protect our eyes from dust or sudden insect attacks. Scientists in Canada think they have found another function of blinking. The researchers are from Concordia University in Montreal. They found that we blink less when we are listening to someone speak. This happens more when there is background noise. Lead researcher Penelope Coupal said blinking less means our brain has a little more energy. This allows us to focus on what another person is saying.

The research team conducted two experiments on 49 participants. All of the test participants listened to sentences being read aloud. In one experiment, there was no background noise. In the other test, there was background noise, which made it harder for the people to hear the sentences. The scientists said that people in the test with background noise blinked a lot less. When the background noise increased, blink rates ｄropped even further. Study co-author Dr Mickael Deroche said we automatically blink less "when important information is coming". Ms Coupal agreed. She said: "We don't just blink randomly. In fact, we blink systematically less when important information is presented."

 

Chat

Talk about these words from the article.  

blinking / eyes / vision / dust / insect attacks / scientist listening / / background noise experiments / sentences / reading aloud / hearing / important information / author 

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True / False

1) Scientists say we think about blinking before we blink.  T / F

2) The article says blinking can protect us against insect attacks.  T / F

3) We blink less often when we are trying to listen to someone.  T / F

4) Blinking less means our brain has a little more energy to use.  T / F

5) Researchers conducted tests on nearly 500 people.  T / F

6) When there is background noise, we blink more.  T / F

7) We blink more when we want to understand important information.  T / F

8) Another doctor said people do not simply blink randomly.  T / F 

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Discussion

1) What do you think about what you read?

2) Do you ever think about blinking?

3) What kinds of background noises do you think are annoying?

4) What things make it hard to listen to people?

5) Are there any people you don't want to listen to?

6) What was the last piece of important information you heard?

7) What does the phrase "in the blink of an eye" mean?

8) What questions would you like to ask the researchers?