A clinical listening analogy for study of listening style in psychiatric residents

A tape recording of a 17 minute fragment of a psychotherapy was rated by a panel of experienced psychoanalysts who identified twenty-two cues which they felt reflected the patient's concern with termination of treatment. The ability of 20 psychiatric residents to detect these cues was found to correlate with their overall performance in the residency program. A correlation was also found between the number of cues detected and individual differences in the residents' listening style. Listening style was conceptualized as extending, at one extreme, from a critical, focused attention to, at another extreme, a holistic, free floating attitude. Two measures of listening style were used: eyeblink rate and memory for high imagery words. The clinical listening analogy may be useful in the training and evaluation of progress in the acquisition of clinical skills.