Hearing is a physiological process. It is something that happens through our ears. As long as someone is not hearing impaired, hearing is a natural event that occurs both during wake and sleep.

Listening, moreover, is slightly different—it takes place, or we could even say is done through a series of mental processes. This is the conscious act requiring us to get meaning from sounds including words and sentences. It might be considered a full package of observing, feeling, and stimuli from other senses. Listening occurs when we are in conversation with others, reading books, notes, and e-mails.

These are the two most fundamental processes but we can find between six and a couple of dozen types of listening.

Instead of reviewing a particular model any model of how we listen, I thought it would be more effective to share a widely used definition of listening. It turns out definitions are as countless as types so it's not a simple task. According to Michael Purdy, professor...