Selective listeners hear only the parts of the conversation that they want to, disregarding the rest of the conversation entirely. Defensive listeners are very, well, defensive. They tend to take everything to heart and interpret everything as a self-attack. Ambush listeners like to listen very carefully to everything that you say, only to use it against you at the first breath you take as they attack you. Now insulted listeners avoid certain topics. They tend to not listen to what someone says, rather than acknowledge what that person says about that topic. There is also the insensitive listener who gets so caught up in their own issues, that they do not see the meaning behind someone else's words. Lastly, there is the stage hog. A stage hog is someone who always tries to point the conversation towards themselves. The love to be the center of attention so much, that they prevent the listener from learning information, and it can damage the relationship between the interrupter and the speaker.
There are many reasons for this poor listening. Some may have a message overload, or too much information given to them at one moment. Another is rapid thought. Rapid thought is when someone's mind wanders while the speaker is talking due to extra "mental spare time" as Adler et al. (2015) likes to call it. Others may have noise distracting them, whether psychological or physical. Some people also have hearing disabilities. Many people make faulty assumptions as well. Perceived advantages of talking and cultural difference can also be considered as reasons for poor listening. Media influence is the last one of the reasons for poor listening. Technology is where most of our distractions come from, and can make others feel like you do not care about what they are saying if you are on technology while they are trying to communicate.
There are many types of listening, for example: Task-oriented listening, relational listening, analytical listening, and critical listening.