Final answer:
Selective hearing or confirmation bias occurs when individuals pay attention to information that confirms their beliefs and ignore contradictory information. This cognitive bias influences how we consume media, interact with others, and make decisions. It also affects our memory and judgment through tendencies like hindsight bias and the availability heuristic.
Step-by-step explanation:
When someone listens for particular things and deliberately ignores what they do not want to hear, this is known as confirmation bias or selective hearing. This cognitive bias leads individuals to pay attention only to information that confirms their preexisting beliefs and to disregard information that contradicts these beliefs.
For example, a person who only reads news articles that support their political views is exhibiting confirmation bias. This is a common phenomenon in various aspects of life, including how we consume media, how we interact in social situations, and how we make decisions.
Confirmation bias can also be seen in literature and art, where the reader or viewer may empathize with characters or themes that align with their own experiences or beliefs, effectively filtering the content through their personal lens.
This tendency can also influence our memory and judgment, such as the belief that we knew all along how something would turn out (hindsight bias) or overestimating the probability of events based on how easily they come to mind (availability heuristic).
The examples provided, from news consumption to the reactions to literature or events, all portray the ways in which individuals selectively process information, whether consciously or unconsciously, to uphold their current understanding of the world.