Distraction of Mental Arithmetic by Background Speech

Perham, Nick; Marsh, John E.; Clarkson, Martin; Lawrence, Rosie; Sörqvist, Patrik

doi:10.1027/1618-3169/a000314

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 52 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Interestingly, Experiment 1 did not reveal a deviation effect in either task (though there is a small trend for a deviation effect with changing-state sequences on serial recall). Hence, in contrast to several previous observations (Banbury & Berry, 1998 ; Hadlington et al, 2006 ; Perham et al, 2013 , 2016 ; Perham & Macpherson, 2012 ), there was no indication of auditory distraction of mental arithmetic performance in the present study. A possible reason for this could be the use of different types of distractors.…”

Section: Methodscontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…A possible reason for this could be the use of different types of distractors. Most previous studies have shown that mental arithmetic performance was impaired by the presence of speech (e.g., spoken numbers or letters) or continuous office noise with speech, compared to silence or office noise without speech (Banbury & Berry, 1998 ; Hadlington et al, 2006 ; Perham et al, 2016 ; Perham & Macpherson, 2012 ), but they did not contrast conditions of changing-state and steady-state speech as in the present study. Therefore, it could be argued that the disruptions of mental arithmetic in the previous studies may have been due to attentional capture rather than due to interference-by-process produced by the changing-state nature of speech.…”

Section: Methodscontrasting

confidence: 59%

“…There is some previous evidence of irrelevant speech and other types of sound to disrupt performance in mental arithmetic tasks (Banbury & Berry, 1998 ; Perham et al, 2013 , 2016 ; Perham & Macpherson, 2012 ). Banbury and Berry ( 1998 ), for instance, demonstrated that the presence of irrelevant speech and office noise (as compared to silence) reduces the accuracy in a task that requires alternating additions and subtractions of single digits (e.g., 8+7–2+5–1+8–4+7–3+5–8+4–1+6–7=?).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Task-specific auditory distraction in serial recall and mental arithmetic

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Previous studies suggest that task-irrelevant changing-state sound interferes specifically with the processing of serial order information in the focal task (e.g., serial recall from short-term memory), whereas a deviant sound in the auditory background is supposed to divert central attention, thus producing distraction in various types of cognitive tasks. Much of the evidence for this distinction rests on the observed dissociations in auditory distraction between serial and non-serial short-term memory tasks. In this study, both the changing-state effect and the deviation effect were contrasted between serial digit recall and mental arithmetic tasks. In three experiments (two conducted online), changing-state sound was found to disrupt serial recall, but it did not lead to a general decrement in performance in different mental arithmetic tasks. In contrast, a deviant voice in the stream of irrelevant speech sounds did not cause reliable distraction in serial recall and simple addition/subtraction tasks, but it did disrupt a more demanding mental arithmetic task. Specifically, the evaluation of math equations (multiplication and addition/subtraction), which was combined with a pair-associate memory task to increase the task demand, was found to be susceptible to auditory distraction in participants who did not serially rehearse the pair-associates. Together, the results support the assumption that the interference produced by changing-state sound is highly specific to tasks that require serial-order processing, whereas auditory deviants may cause attentional capture primarily in highly demanding cognitive tasks (e.g., mental arithmetic) that cannot be solved through serial rehearsal.

show abstract

Section: Methodscontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodscontrasting

confidence: 59%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Task-specific auditory distraction in serial recall and mental arithmetic

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…2 We believe that distraction-conflict theory not only allows us to conceptualize music as a distraction, but also allows us to organize the literature regarding music and task performance. First, Baron's (1986) proposition regarding structural interference is in line with research on the ISE, in which the task performer is holding task-related items in his or her working memory, and the identity of these items becomes confused with irrelevant sound items (e.g., Neath, 2000;Perham, Marsh, Clarkson, Lawrence, & Sörqvist, 2016). Second, distraction-conflict theory includes the proposition that distractions can affect performance not only through attentional conflict, but also through drive.…”

Section: Music Within the Distraction-conflict Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 78%

More than meets the ear: Investigating how music affects cognitive task performance.

Gonzalez¹,

Aiello²

2019

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Researchers have documented various (sometimes conflicting) effects of music on cognitive task performance, and have highlighted several mechanisms through which these effects may occur (e.g., arousal, mood, attention). To further understand these effects, we consider interactions between musicbased, task-based, and performer-based characteristics. Specifically, we drew from the distractionconflict theory of social facilitation and research on boredom proneness to hypothesize that music-along with its complexity and volume-facilitates simple task performance and impairs complex task performance, and that one's preference for external stimulation (a dimension of boredom proneness) moderates these effects. We tested our hypotheses in a laboratory experiment, in which participants completed cognitive tasks either in silence or with music of varying complexity and volume. We found that (a) music generally impaired complex task performance, (b) complex music facilitated simple task performance, and (c) preference for external stimulation moderated these effects. Therefore, the data suggest that music's effects on task performance depend on the music, the task, and the performer. Public Significance Statement In this study, we found that music generally impaired performance on a complex task, whereas complex music improved performance on a simple task. These effects depended on the task performer's personality, suggesting the need to consider music-, person-, and task-based factors when deciding whether to integrate music into work environments.

show abstract

“…However, spatial exibility increases the risk that people perform mobile trainings while being around with others or during other cognitively demanding activities, leading to distractions and impairs mindfulness meditation practice (Lawrence et al, 2015). From basic research we know that even quiet music can be distracting which increases by adding voices or disturbing noises (Hygge et al, 2003;Perham et al, 2016;Shih et al, 2012). Therefore, each mindfulness meditation session generally starts with the instruction to choose a place without any disturbance.…”

Section: Level Of Spatial Exibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital Mindfulness Trainings and Cognitive Functions – A preregistered systematic review of neuropsychological findings

Liebherr

Brandtner

Brand

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Traditional mindfulness interventions have been frequently reported to be effective in improving cognitive functions. In recent years, however, traditional programs are increasingly replaced by technology-enabled mindfulness interventions. The aim of the present systematic review (PROSPERO ID: CRD42021289480) was to evaluate the research evidence on their effects on cognitive functions. Empirical intervention studies in the realm of digital mindfulness trainings fulfilled the inclusion criteria, which led to 19 studies and 1,257 participants being included in this review among PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Knowledge. Results support previous assumptions on the potential of digital mindfulness trainings with the most robust effect on attention control, followed by executive regulation and memory, cognitive flexibility, and other cognitive functions. However, the number of studies that did not find significant changes at least equaled, if not exceeded, the number of studies that found increases. The heterogeneity of identified studies prompted us to discuss several aspects in order to help future development of digital applications.

show abstract

Distraction of Mental Arithmetic by Background Speech

Cited by 8 publications

References 52 publications

Task-specific auditory distraction in serial recall and mental arithmetic

Task-specific auditory distraction in serial recall and mental arithmetic

More than meets the ear: Investigating how music affects cognitive task performance.

Digital Mindfulness Trainings and Cognitive Functions – A preregistered systematic review of neuropsychological findings

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About