Final answer:
The assertion that the average listener can process 600 to 800 words per minute is false; actual comprehension occurs at a much lower rate. A person's hearing ability and short-term memory capacity, often described as 7 plus or minus 2, strongly influence their information processing capacity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that the average listener can process information at a rate of about 600 to 800 words per minute is False. When it comes to understanding and processing spoken language, the rate is significantly lower. Listeners can typically understand conversational speech at a rate of about 125-250 words per minute. Processing of auditory information, such as conversational speech, is directly related to hearing ability and cognitive load. It is important to note that a person's ability to hear and process speech can be affected by hearing loss, as illustrated by the impact of 40-phon and 60-phon hearing losses on perception of conversational frequencies. Given that female voices are usually characterized by higher frequencies, hearing impairment can also affect one's capability to understand different genders. Capacity for processing information is also linked to the limit of short-term memory or working memory, which is often described by the 'magic number' 7 plus or minus 2, or more recently 4 plus or minus 1, which pertains to the number of items one can hold in working memory at a given time.