When you were a child quite possibly someone read a bedtime story aloud to you each night, bringing to life bold characters, spooky settings and things that go bump in the night. You still love hearing a good story.
Probably more than you realize. A British study funded by the people at Audible.com wired up 102 people ages 18 to 67 to measure their physiological reactions to watching a story and hearing a story. They took scenes from shows like Game of Thrones and had subjects watch the video, and then had them listen to a reading of the same passage.
Even though each of the subjects had an expectation that they would respond most to the visual stimulation, their bodies revealed otherwise. Hearts raced a little faster and body temperature got a tad more heated when only listening to the story.
None of this comes as a surprise to Michele Cobb, Executive Director of the Audiobook Publishers Association. “I think it gives our mind a chance to do some of its own work and that can be very compelling,” she tells NewsRadio 740 KTRH. Sales are up 32% this year. “People have a lot of choices of in genres, authors that they like, narrators that they love, and that helps rise the tide.”