AUDITORY LEARNING: CHARACTERISTICS, WAY OF LEARNING, ADVANTAGES - PSYCHOLOGY - 2024

The auditory learning is one of the three learning styles described in the VAK model. It is a way of acquiring knowledge in which the person mainly retains that information that she hears, as opposed to that which she sees or that she perceives in relation to her other senses and feelings.

People who use auditory learning as the main means of acquiring knowledge especially benefit from teaching methods such as lectures, listening to audiobooks or podcasts, or simply reading aloud what they want to memorize.

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On the contrary, individuals with this learning style have difficulties when it comes to following written instructions or internalizing the knowledge they read, and acquiring motor skills. The only exception to this is when a written text has a certain rhythm or rhyme, in which case it is easier for them to memorize it.

People whose main mode of acquisition of knowledge is auditory learning share a series of characteristics that impact all areas of their lives. For example, they tend to be very good at listening to others, they have facilities for music and languages, and they tend to be calmer than visuals.

characteristics

They are very talkative

For people with an auditory learning style, their main way of expressing themselves and experiencing the world is sound. Because of this, they generally love to have deep conversations with those around them. In addition, they are not usually afraid to express their opinion, speak in public or debate with other individuals.

Thanks to their ability with sounds, hearing people are normally able to interpret the emotions of their interlocutors simply by paying attention to their tone of voice and inflections in language. For this reason, they are usually very perceptive, and they make those with whom they speak feel fully heard and understood.

In addition to this, they usually have a great facility with language, which they use to tell stories, express their ideas in a forceful way and explain their points of view. This often endows them with great charisma, although those who have less developed their social skills may come to be "boring" to other individuals.

They need to hear sounds to learn

People with an auditory learning style, who make up approximately 30% of the world's population, have great difficulty acquiring knowledge in contexts where it is not related in some way to sound. Thus, for example, reading provides them with a very low memorization ratio.

In contrast, when these individuals listen to a lecture, listen to an audiobook, or read aloud, it appears that they are able to retain up to 75% of the information that enters their ears. However, in most formal and non-formal educational contexts the most used sense is sight.

Because of this problem, people with an auditory learning style often find their own ways to add sounds to the information they have to memorize.

Thus, it is common to hear them read aloud, hum while studying, invent songs or rhymes with the topics they must learn, or even study with music.

For visual and kinesthetic people, these strategies are often very detrimental when it comes to acquiring new information. However, the auditory can get extra help to help enhance their learning experience.

They have a very good auditory memory

People with an auditory learning style often surprise people around them by remembering exactly what an individual said in a given context. In addition, they also have the facility to remember names, song lyrics, poetry, and everything that can be heard.

Apart from this, hearing individuals usually have a great capacity to master disciplines such as music or languages. They tend to memorize vocabulary from other languages ​​very easily, express themselves in a rich way, and often have extraordinary abilities such as perfect pitch.

They share a number of personality traits

The most controversial part of the VAK model of learning is that which says that individuals who predominantly use one of their senses share a series of characteristics, behaviors and ways of being. Thus, in principle it is possible to distinguish an auditory from a visual or kinesthetic person with the naked eye.

Theoretically, people with auditory learning styles tend to be more reflective than visual ones. They appreciate activities such as discussions, reflecting on deep topics, playing or listening to music, listening to the radio, and conversations on topics that interest them.

Auditory people are often more introverted than visual people; But unlike kinesthetics, who tend to be more in their world, they are capable of greatly enjoying the company of others. Of course, they prefer to be in the presence of close people with whom they can avoid talking about unimportant topics.

On the other hand, hearing people prefer to listen to speak, and they are usually able to analyze in depth what is said to them. When they listen, they tend to tilt their heads to indicate that they are paying attention; and they generally use set phrases such as "sounds familiar to me", "I hear you" or "I hadn't heard".

How do auditory people learn?

Because the most developed sense is hearing, people with an auditory learning style prefer to have new information presented to them orally. Thus, these individuals are usually capable of learning with great ease what they hear in a master class, without having to take notes or review them later.

In addition to this, in less formal educational contexts, hearing people tend to listen to audiobooks, read aloud what they want to memorize, or try to create rhythmic patterns that help them internalize pure data.

In cases where this is not possible, they can also use techniques such as playing music in the background while studying, recording themselves reading a lesson so they can listen to it later, or employing mnemonic rules that are related to listening (such as the use of rhymes).

In the context of languages, hearing people are often able to memorize new vocabulary simply by listening to it, as they internalize sounds with great capacity. If they learn music, they will often be more comfortable memorizing a piece than reading sheet music, even though they know how to do it.

Advantage

Despite the fact that the formal educational system is more oriented to visual people than to auditory people, the latter have a series of advantages over their peers when it comes to internalizing new information. If they have good brainpower, they will often only need to listen to the teacher to memorize topics and facts.

This ability can be especially useful in subjects that are based on the internalization of pure data, such as history, philosophy or literature. In addition, subjects such as languages ​​or music generally do not pose any problem for people with this learning style, who tend to excel in them.

In contrast, subjects that are more practical or require the acquisition of skills, such as mathematics or science in general, have traditionally been a problem for people with an auditory learning style. This is because they usually need to be learned individually, often by reading from a book.

However, with advances such as video classes (which allow you to listen to an explanation as many times as necessary) or audio recording systems, even the hearing impaired can find relatively simple strategies that allow them to acquire all kinds of knowledge.

Auditory learning strategies

If you think you have an auditory learning style, many of the traditional study methods will not be particularly helpful in achieving good academic results. Here are some ideas to help you get the most out of this personality trait.

Study in a group

One of the most effective learning strategies for hearing people is to find a study partner with whom they can prepare mock "oral exams."

In this way, by having to ask questions and answer them aloud, it is easier for them to retain new information, especially in matters with a lot of pure data.

Record the classes

Although it is not always possible to do this, audiotaping a class so they can listen to it again later can be extremely helpful for people with an auditory learning style. In this way, instead of having to study from notes, it is possible to hear the relevant information again as many times as you want.

Of course, not all teachers will allow this idea to be carried out. In the event that a teacher does not allow their classes to be recorded, a possible alternative is to find an online version of the explanation. In recent years, many video channels have emerged with master classes on all kinds of topics, which can help the hearing.

Listen to classical music while studying

Even when there is no choice but to study from notes or textbooks, having some kind of background noise can help hearing people better retain the information they intend to memorize. To do this, one of the most effective strategies is to play classical music while studying.

Why classical music? The main reason is that this musical genre usually has no lyrics. Hearing people are often very easily distracted by normal songs; But a soft piano or orchestral melody can help them focus better on what they are studying.

References

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4. "Auditory learners" in: Studying Style. Retrieved on: May 03, 2019 from Studying Style: studyingstyle.com.
5. "Auditory learning" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: May 03, 2019 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org.