The Effect of Distractions on Task Performance and Enjoyment as Moderated by Regulatory Fit

Every day, distractions keep people from maintaining focus and productivity. Music, in particular, is a distraction that can easily disrupt individuals mentally and physically. However, what if common distractions like music had the power to motivate people towards a goal rather than deter them from it? Regulatory Focus Theory offers an explanation for how this is possible. It posits two motivational foci: promotion and prevention. If individuals are promotion-focused, they seek positive outcomes, and if individuals are prevention-focused, they try to avoid negative outcomes. The current study tested the assumption that avoiding distractions during goal pursuit matched the behavior of someone with a prevention focus better than someone with a promotion focus and simply being in a prevention focus when completing a task could increase an individual’s task enjoyment and performance when distractions were present. Participants were first given a questionnaire to determine their regulatory focus. Then their task was to solve math problems in the presence or absence of music which served as the distraction. The results of 150 participants did not support the hypotheses and showed that, regardless of whether a distraction was present or not, promotion-focused participants performed better and enjoyed the task more than their prevention-focused counterparts

The Relationship of Rhythmic and Melodic Perception with Background Music Distraction in College Level Students

This study investigated relationships among the ability to audiate musical stimuli, background music condition, familiarity, gender, general academic achievement, age, and frequency of use on the level of distraction caused by background music. Eighty-four general college students were given the AMMA. The students were divided into three equal groups and given three cognitive tests (Nelson-Denny Reading Test/D2 Test of Attention/Spatial Ability Test) under three background music conditions (no music/sedative music/stimulative music). A counterbalance design was followed. Orchestral background music was used during the treatment. The findings suggest that general academic achievement had a significant positive relationship with reading comprehension, spatial ability, and concentration regardless of background music condition. Furthermore, the sedative music condition had a significant negative relationship on measures of concentration. These findings are discussed in relation to previous studies. Implications for educators are given

The Effects of Auditory Distractors in a Word Learning Task

The topic of learning with background sound has been a widely researched field of study. This research examined whether word learning performance is affected by the presence of background noise, such as music or television in an Easy (Study 1) and Difficult (Study 2) word learning task. In Study 1, college undergraduate students (n=98) were presented novel objects (modern art sculptures) with an auditory nonsense label for each object. Four background sound conditions were used: calm music, pop music, silence and television weather excerpts. The results indicated there was a main effect of the participants’ perceived distraction on the accuracy of the participants’ scores; the more distracting the participants perceived the background sound to be, the lower their word learning. A second study of college undergraduate students (n=100) was conducted to test task reliability and to determine if background noise had the same effect on a more difficult word learning task. For Study 2, the number of word presentations during training was reduced to make the task more difficult. The sound conditions remained the same. The results from Study 2 indicated there was a main effect of background sound on word learning performance during a difficult task. Participants in sound conditions with vocals had lower accuracy scores than those in the non-vocal sound condition. The more difficult a task, the more detrimental sound with vocals is on performance in contrast to an easier task where background noise was only detrimental if the participants perceived it to be distracting. This may have implications for how classroom environments are structured.  No embargoAcademic Major: Psycholog

The effect of background music and noise on the cognitive test performance of Chinese introverts and extraverts

Previous research has shown that background auditory distractors (music and sound/noise) have a more severe impact on introverts’ performances on complex cognitive tasks than extraverts (Dobbs, Furnham, & McClelland, 2011). The present study is a partial replication of Dobbs et al., but involving Chinese rather than English participants. Ninety-two Chinese participants (59 female) carried out three cognitive tasks with the presence of Chinese pop songs, background office noise, and silence. The results did not reveal any differences in performance as a function of the distraction condition, nor was there a difference in performance between extraverts and introverts. The failure to replicate is explained in terms of habituation to noisy environments among Chinese participants

Is in-Vehicle Background Audio Distracting to Drivers?

Driving an automobile is one of the most automatized, but also complex tasks completed on a daily basis. Beyond merely operating pedals and a steering wheel, drivers need to maintain situational awareness and respond to unexpected events by other drivers, as well as other visual and auditory signals. Drivers often engage in secondary, non-driving tasks while driving as well, such as listening to music. Some drivers routinely drive in the presence of very high levels of background audio. Previous studies have offered differing conclusions on whether in-vehicle background audio can affect driving behavior, possibly by increasing the driver’s cognitive workload. In the present study, nineteen adult participants performed a variety of tasks in the presence of different levels and types of background audio, while operating a simulated vehicle at The Ohio State Driving Simulation Laboratory. Drivers also performed two secondary tasks to assess cognitive workload while driving: performing complicated arithmetic calculations on numbers on billboards placed in unexpected locations in the scenario, and rating the urgency of visual and auditory warning signals presented at varied intervals in the scenario. Measures of driving performance included speed, following behavior, steering smoothness, and lane keeping capabilities. Results showed that increased audio levels decrease the perceived urgency of warnings, and increase the number of errors in the arithmetic task. Driving performance was not impacted, suggesting that high audio levels reduce overall situational awareness and increase cognitive workload.No embargoAcademic Major: Speech and Hearing Scienc

The effect of preferred background music on task‐focus in sustained attention

Although many people listen to music while performing tasks that require sustained attention, the literature is inconclusive about its effects. The present study examined performance on a sustained-attention task and explored the effect of background music on the prevalence of different attentional states, founded on the non-linear relationship between arousal and performance. Forty students completed a variation of the Psychomotor Vigilance Task—that has long been used to measure sustained attention—in silence and with their self-selected or preferred music in the background. We collected subjective reports of attentional state (specifically mind-wandering, task-focus and external distraction states) as well as reaction time (RT) measures of performance. Results indicated that background music increased the proportion of task-focus states by decreasing mind-wandering states but did not affect external distraction states. Task-focus states were linked to shorter RTs than mind-wandering or external distraction states; however, background music did not reduce RT or variability of RT significantly compared to silence. These findings show for the first time that preferred background music can enhance task-focused attentional states on a low-demanding sustained-attention task and are compatible with arousal mediating the relationship between background music and task-performance

The effects of auditory and visual distracters on the toleration of background noise in normal hearing listeners

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of auditory and visual cognitive loads on the preferred background noise levels in normal-hearing listeners. This study investigated the preferable background noise levels (primary task) when normal hearing listeners were presented with auditory and/or visual cognitive distractions (secondary task). It was hypothesized that normal hearing listeners’ preferable background noise level would decrease in the presence of either distracter and that the synergistic effect of the two distracters would result in even lower preferable background noise level. Preferable background noise levels were measured on 24 normal-hearing listeners under four conditions. A 2x2 repeated measure ANOVA was performed with auditory and visual distraction (two levels each) as within-subject factors and the test order as a between-subjects factor. The results of the repeated measure ANOVA indicated significant main effect of auditory distraction. None of the interactions between auditory distraction, visual distraction and test order were reported to be significant. The interaction between auditory distraction and test order however, was near significant. Tests between subjects effects revealed no significant effect of test order. Pairwise comparison with Bonferroni correction revealed significantly higher preferable noise levels in the visual task and lower noise level in the auditory task. Results indicated that while attending to a visual cognitive task, normal hearing listeners were willing to put up with a higher background noise level than attending to an auditory task

Subjective Reactions to Noise in Open-Plan Offices and the Effects of Noise on Cognitive Performance - Problems and Solutions

This thesis examines the effects of noise on cognitive performance and subjective reactions in open-plan offices. Earlier research suggests that the acoustic distraction largely results from background speech that is irrelevant to the listener. Combining methods from psychology and room acoustic research, this thesis investigates speech intelligibility as a predictor of the negative effects of background speech and examines some design-related solutions to decreasing these problems. Speech intelligibility is described with the Speech Transmission Index (STI) and the distraction distance which is a room acoustic parameter based on the STI. Evidence from three laboratory experiments and two field studies is presented. The results show that the general perception of both disturbing noise (Study IV) and office distractions (Study V) is strongly correlated with disturbing background speech in open-plan offices. An increase in office distractions mediates negative changes in environmental satisfaction, perceived collaboration and stress symptoms following a move to a modern open-plan office (Study V). The laboratory studies (I, II and III) show that speech intelligibility predicts particularly subjective perceptions of acoustic disturbance but also performance in verbal short-term memory and working memory tasks. The observed performance results are compatible with the STI-performance model proposed by Hongisto (2005). More complex tasks with higher requirements on semantic processing were not affected (Studies I to III). In terms of the investigated solutions, the findings support the use of masking sound in increasing satisfaction with the acoustic environment (Studies I to IV). Filtered pink noise and spring water sound are effective and pleasant masking sounds whereas music cannot be recommended for general use (Study II). Together, Studies III and IV show that perceived noise disturbance can be decreased in open-plan offices by holistic room acoustic design. However, its benefits are limited at short distances between nearby workstations (Study III). Distraction distance predicts perceived noise disturbance in open-plan offices (Study IV), which supports its use in the evaluation and design of office acoustics. The provision of additional quiet workspaces is a complementary way of decreasing the negative effects of office distractions in modern open-plan offices (Study V). Limitations of this work and suggestions for future research are discussed.Subjektiiviset reaktiot avotoimistojen meluun ja melun vaikutukset kognitiiviseen suoriutumiseen. Ongelmia ja ratkaisuja Tämä väitöskirjatutkimus käsittelee melun vaikutuksia kognitiiviseen suoriutumiseen ja subjektiivisiin reaktioihin avotoimistoissa. Aiempien tutkimusten mukaan koetut akustiset ongelmat liittyvät suurelta osin sellaisiin puheääniin, jotka ovat kuulijan kannalta hyödyttömiä. Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitetään psykologisia ja huoneakustisia tutkimusmenetelmiä yhdistäen puheenerotettavuuden merkitystä puheen negatiivisten vaikutusten selittäjänä sekä tutkitaan toimistosuunnittelun keinoja ongelmien vähentämiseksi. Puheenerotettavuutta kuvataan puheensiirtoindeksillä ja häiritsevyyssäteellä, joka on puheensiirtoindeksiin perustuva huoneakustinen mittaluku. Tutkimus sisältää kolme kokeellista laboratoriotutkimusta ja kaksi kenttätutkimusta. Tulosten perusteella sekä häiritsevä melu (Tutkimus IV) että kokemus työympäristön häiriötekijöistä (Tutkimus V) korreloivat vahvasti puheäänten häiritsevyyden kanssa. Häiriötekijöiden lisääntyminen toimii välittävänä tekijänä suhteessa negatiivisiin muutoksiin ympäristötyytyväisyydessä, yhteistyön kokemisessa sekä stressioireissa avotoimistoon muuton jälkeen (Tutkimus V). Laboratoriotutkimukset (I, II ja III) osoittavat, että puheenerotettavuus ennustaa erityisesti akustisten olosuhteiden subjektiivista häiritsevyyttä, mutta myös suoriutumista verbaalisissa lyhytkestoisen muistin ja työmuistin tehtävissä. Kognitiivista suoriutumista koskevat tulokset ovat yhdenmukaisia Hongiston (2005) esittämän, puheensiirtoindeksin ja suoriutumisen suhdetta kuvaavan mallin kanssa. Kompleksisemmissa, enemmän semanttista prosessointia sisältävissä tehtävissä ei havaittu puheäänten vaikutuksia kognitiiviseen suoriutumiseen (Tutkimukset I-III). Tutkittujen ratkaisukeinojen osalta tulokset tukevat peiteäänen käyttöä akustisen tyytyväisyyden parantamisessa (Tutkimukset I-IV). Suodatettu kohina ja puronsolina ovat tehokkaita ja miellyttäviä peiteääniä, kun taas musiikkia ei voida suositella yleiseen käyttöön (Tutkimus II). Tutkimukset III ja IV osoittavat, että akustisia ongelmia voidaan vähentää kokonaisvaltaisella huoneakustisella suunnittelulla. Sen hyödyt ovat kuitenkin rajallisia lyhyillä etäisyyksillä lähityöpisteiden välillä (Tutkimus III). Häiritsevyyssäde selittää koettua melun häiritsevyyttä avotoimistoissa (Tutkimus IV), mikä tukee sen käyttöä toimistojen akustisten olosuhteiden arvioinnissa ja suunnittelussa. Työympäristön häiriötekijöiden negatiivisia vaikutuksia voidaan lisäksi vähentää rakentamalla avotoimistoihin vaihtoehtoisia hiljaisia työtiloja (Tutkimus V). Väitöskirjan lopussa tarkastellaan tutkimuksen rajoituksia sekä jatkotutkimustarpeita.Siirretty Doriast