Auditory distraction in open-plan study environments: Effects of background speech and reverberation time on a collaboration task

Braat-Eggen, Ella; Poll, Marijke Keus van de; Hornikx, Maarten; Kohlrausch, AG Armin

doi:10.1016/j.apacoust.2019.04.038

Cited by 27 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…This is a major gap as communication is essential in many office tasks. However, at least one publication concerning the effects of room acoustics on a collaboration task has emerged since our literature search 87 . This study did not observe an STI ‐ performance relation.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 49%

“…However, at least one publication concerning the effects of room acoustics on a collaboration task has emerged since our literature search. 87 This study did not observe an STI-performance relation. However, investigating the effects of speech in communication tasks is more challenging than in tasks reviewed in our study because the intelligibility of both target speech and irrelevant speech needs to be considered.…”

Section: Implications For Acoustic Design and Future Researchcontrasting

confidence: 52%

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The relation between the intelligibility of irrelevant speech and cognitive performance—A revised model based on laboratory studies

2020

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Dissatisfaction with acoustic conditions is a common problem in open-plan offices, as documented by numerous researchers over several decades. 1-6 Similar problems are also encountered nowadays in activity-based offices, albeit to a lesser extent. 7-9 Of the different noise sources in open-plan offices, speech is the main source of noise annoyance, 3,5,10 correlating highly with the general perception of disturbing noise. 11 The acoustic problems are not restricted to subjective discomfort but have more direct implications for the productivity of workers. Background speech that is irrelevant to the listener (later in the text: speech) is known to objectively decrease human performance in several areas of information processing, including particularly verbal short-term memory, 12 but also more complex tasks, such as writing 13 and proofreading. 14 Thus, the noise control

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 49%

Section: Implications For Acoustic Design and Future Researchcontrasting

confidence: 52%

The relation between the intelligibility of irrelevant speech and cognitive performance—A revised model based on laboratory studies

2020

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“…They used students' examination scores on mathematics and statistics and analyzed the attention level with video recording of students' behavior in the classroom. Although an increase of reverberation time does not always lead to a decrease in short‐term academic performance, it can affect the intelligibility of background speech and therefore could influence the disturbance and performance of students 42,55 . Students' short‐term academic performance is also affected by unwanted noises in the classroom and may decrease this performance with as much as 34% 37 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Classrooms' indoor environmental conditions affecting the academic achievement of students and teachers in higher education: A systematic literature review

et al. 2020

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This study reports the outcomes of a systematic literature review, which aims to determine the influence of four indoor environmental parameters — indoor air, thermal, acoustic, and lighting conditions —on the quality of teaching and learning and on students' academic achievement in schools for higher education, defined as education at a college or university. By applying the Cochrane Collaboration Method, relevant scientific evidence was identified by systematically searching in multiple databases. After the screening process, 21 publications of high relevance and quality were included. The collected evidence showed that the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) can contribute positively to the quality of learning and short‐term academic performance of students. However, the influence of all parameters on the quality of teaching and the long‐term academic performance could not be determined yet. Students perform at their best in different IEQ conditions, and these conditions are task‐dependent, suggesting that classrooms which provide multiple IEQ classroom conditions facilitate different learning tasks optimally. In addition, the presented evidence illuminates how to examine the influence of the IEQ on users. Finally, this information supports decision‐makers in facility management and building systems engineering to improve the IEQ, and by doing so, allow teachers and students to perform optimally.

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“…On the other hand, Braat-Eggen et al 90,91 have recently shown that a prolonged reverberation affecting background conversation seems to help concentration in open plan offices. Thus in multi-purpose areas the interaction effects between acoustic expectations and comfort according to different activities should be studied more in-depth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reflecting on sonic environments through a structured questionnaire: Grounded theory analysis of situated interviews with musicians

Milo

2020

Building Acoustics

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Eight participants with a musical background were asked to reflect in depth on their experience of sonic environments through a structured questionnaire answered in either oral or written form. Six of these interviews took place at the Zentrum für Kunst und Medien in Karlsruhe, and two in London, to provide contrasting comparison terms. The questionnaire invited the participants to progress in their reasoning from the description of the present sonic environment to the formulation of thoughts on the acoustic design of spaces, the educational potential of soundwalking practices and the elicitation of places with aural character from their memory. The interview transcripts were qualitatively analysed through the grounded theory method with the aim to detail the underlying mechanisms towards the appraisal or criticism for an acoustic environment. Acoustic and psychoacoustic indicators were extracted from the binaural measurements of the interview settings to provide objective grounds for comparison. Five concurrent factors were identified as involved in the quality attribution process: purpose affordance, affective impact, memory, ecological awareness and acoustic design.

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Auditory distraction in open-plan study environments: Effects of background speech and reverberation time on a collaboration task

Cited by 27 publications

References 52 publications

The relation between the intelligibility of irrelevant speech and cognitive performance—A revised model based on laboratory studies

The relation between the intelligibility of irrelevant speech and cognitive performance—A revised model based on laboratory studies

Classrooms' indoor environmental conditions affecting the academic achievement of students and teachers in higher education: A systematic literature review

Reflecting on sonic environments through a structured questionnaire: Grounded theory analysis of situated interviews with musicians

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