This is a simple observation I made while sitting on the porch today.  I don't have stats to back this up but perhaps someone else does:

Have you noticed the ability that many men have of not hearing what we don't want to hear?  You know, your significant other says something and you don't even acknowledge the words, they just flow right by.  Well, why is that?  I believe it has something to do with our primal hunting instincts, it is a sound we are familiar with and don't acknowledge it as a threat.  In other words men are more tuned into sounds, talk, stories, having to do with survival.