1. What is it?
   1. the phenomenon of the brain's ability
   2. focus one's auditory attention
      1. selective attention
   3. a particular stimulus
   4. auditory attention
2. Allows us
   1. "tune into" a single voice
   2. "tune out" all others
3. Neurological basis
   1. works best as a binaural effect
   2. requires hearing with both ears
4. Early work
   1. 1953
      1. Colin Cherry
   2. affecting factors
      1. the sex of the speaker
      2. sound source direction
      3. the pitch
      4. the rate of speech
   3. the shadowing task
   4. 1959
      1. Neville Moray
5. More recent work
   1. Selective attention
      1. across all ages
      2. begins to waiver as we get older
   2. Anne Treisman
      1. primed to detect personally significant words
         1. names
      2. taboo words