Building Listening Theory: The Validation of the Conversational Listening Span

Listening research has not gained legitimacy as a field of study in communication primarily due to the lack of testable theories. Listening research is a challenge, as listening is performed cognitively and perceived behaviorally, but listening cognitions and behaviors are not always congruent (Witkin, 1990 Witkin , B. R. ( 1990 ). Listening theory and research: The state of the art . Journal of the International Listening Association , 4 , 7 – 32 .[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). Listening researchers have focused on the observable listening behaviors; however, results from these studies are not reliable due to the incongruency in cognitions and behaviors. Other listening studies have used verbal recall as a listening indicator; however, verbal recall often is undistinguishable from memory. Further, these studies have taken place in a linear context, so they would not be appropriate for use in conversational listening studies. The first step to developing listening theory is to create an instrument that produces a reliable measure of the cognitive listening process. This study (N = 360), grounded in cognitive psychology's working memory (WM) and capacity theories, demonstrates that the Conversational Listening Span (CLS) instrument can provide a valid measure of one's conversational listening capacity. The CLS represents the first step in building a listening model that is grounded in empirically supported research. This model, with measurable elements, can serve as the foundation for testable listening theories.