Not Just Heard, but Judged: A Multidimensional Perspective on Auditory Attention in Everyday Life

This review examines how listeners evaluate sounds in everyday contexts and how auditory attention research has approached this process. While experimental paradigms have yielded important insights into auditory processing, their constructs often rely on task-specific definitions that may not fully reflect how sounds are perceived and interpreted outside the laboratory. We argue that auditory evaluation is shaped by the interaction of acoustic properties, affective tone, task demands, and contextual framing. To account for this, we propose a multidimensional framework based on arousal, valence, and context, which enables a more flexible characterization of how sounds are judged in everyday listening. We also examine how different methodological approaches highlight distinct facets of this evaluative process. By focusing on the conditions under which sounds are experienced, this review contributes to a more integrative understanding of auditory attention across both controlled and naturalistic settings.