overhear

Veronica Galvan and colleagues from the University of San Diego studied the effects of overhearing either one side of a cell phone call or a chat between two people on the attention and memory of people who overheard these conversations.

"Drivers should be aware that one's attention is drawn away from current tasks by overhearing someone on a cell phone, at least in our attention-demanding lab tasks, and that this effect is beyond conscious control," Emberson says.

Whether it is the office, on a train or in a car, only half of the conversation is overheard which drains more attention and concentration than when overhearing two people talking, according to scientists at Cornell University.

The intern said she gave the talk after overhearing the students call each other lesbians.

I'm on the train." Overhearing bits of cell-phone chatter can send many eyes rolling.

It's like intruding on a private realm, seeing things never meant for our eyes, overhearing a whispered conversation.

In the end, though, Parsons' little daughter denounces her own father to the Thought Police, after overhearing Parsons utter "Down with Big Brother!" in his sleep.

Soon after the threat was made, police got a call from an employee at Blockbuster Video on River Road who said that two customers had reported overhearing two boys calling in a bomb threat on a pay phone near the parking lot.

Overhearing and adding to conversations, we filled in the gaps of our stories and memories with additions and corrections.

Elsewhere, Mick tells Linda about Lee's depression, but after overhearing their conversation, he insists everything is hunky dory.