The Effects of Noise on Cognitive Performance and Helplessness in Childhood: A Review

Abstract

Environmental noise affects our daily functioning in many ways, and the cognitive, motivational, and emotional effects of noise are intertwined. Our task performance under noisy conditions depends on our ability to cope with the noise and our cognitive resources. The process of (failed) coping may wear us out cognitively, lead to learned helplessness, and, consequently, alter the motivation to persist in a task. The direct effect of irrelevant sounds on cognitive functioning in children is relatively well-established, however, the research on the framework of learned helplessness is limited when it comes to children. Learned helplessness can give more insight into effects of environmental noise on learning and child development and how the effects of short-term and long-term exposure interact. A systematic literature review is performed to assess to what extent the current evidence addresses the (interaction) effects of the sound environment on cognition and learned helplessness as measured by motivation in children and young adults up to the age of 21. The search resulted in 8 included papers that addressed both cognition and learned helplessness in their research. The included papers study children between 8–13 years old and show evidence for a relation between environmental noise, cognition, and helplessness individually, but none study a possible interaction. Based on the individual study designs, it could be hypothesized that cognitive fatigue may play a role in the interaction. Studies that conducted motivation tasks after cognitive tasks found stronger effects than those that conducted tasks in a random order. More research is needed using the same methods in different age groups to further assess the interaction between cognition and learned helplessness in relation to the sound environment.

Be Quiet! Effects of Competing Speakers and Individual Characteristics on Listening Comprehension for Primary School Students

“…However, as our experimental task lasted less than an hour, it would be of interest to test whether the same result could be replicated for longer exposure to background noise or task duration. As pointed out in [ 19 ], whereas the negative effect of noise on cognitive functioning in children is well-established, research on motivation in relation to noise, and on the possible relation between the cognitive effects of noise and motivation, is still limited. Further research could indeed provide information to better understand the effects of the sound environment on students’ learning and well-being in classrooms.…”

“…In addition to increased effort, (chronic and short-term) exposure to background noise can affect the motivational component of learned helplessness [ 17 , 18 ], with children persisting less when required to perform a task and giving up more easily [ 19 ]. The role of motivation in effortful listening is acknowledged by the FUEL [ 12 ].…”

The effects of acoustic-light-thermal environment quality parameters on pedestrians’ overall comforts in residential districts

“…People are sensitive with the noising level. Strong noises would cause poor work efficiency 63 , bad sleeping quality 64 , and mental discomforts 65 . Modern scholars paid much attention to study for reducing the negative effects of that.…”

Modifiable Indoor Environmental Factors: Impact on Human Health and Digital Monitoring.

“…в своем обзоре рассматривают снижение мотивации и развитие выученной беспомощности у детей, обучающихся в шумных условиях. Рассмотренные ими статьи изучают детей в возрасте от 8 до 13 лет и демонстрируют доказательства связи между шумом окружающей среды, познанием и снижением мотивации по отдельности, но, идя дальше, можно предположить о существующей связи между этими тремя составляющими [86]. Исследования касательно влияния шума на способность детей обучаться дают не-однозначные результаты.…”