There are many styles of listening for many different people. It could vary on the person, situation, the place, and the atmosphere. Like, a really good place for a conversation would be in an office, a fancy restraunt, or under the roof of your own home. But probably the most common place for an active listening audience would be in a class room itself. Like the books said "Most people assume that listening is fundamentally a passive activity in which the receiver absorbs a speaker's ideas, rather the way a sponge absorbs water."
Many people have their own "personal" listening styles. They could be categorized from content-oriented, people oriented, action oriented, time oriented and what I would like to call informational listening.
Now, as far as I go, my label would be informational listening. I'm not sure how to put it in my own words, but I'll describe it as the book says. Informational listening is the approach to take when you want to understand another person. When you are an information listener, your goal is to make sure you are receiving the same thoughts the other person is trying to convey.
But on a previous (well, not previous, but on a source I've found on the Kirkwood website) article, I have found, says that academic achievement boosts self-esteem and the sense of personal control. So I guess what it is saying is that the reason why most some people do so well in high school or college, is due to the fact they like to feel like they are more superior then others. And that is why they have a better attention span, so they do not miss out on any information that the teacher might give out through out the course of the class. And that is probably why I am labeled as an informational